Claim
An unrelated old video of UP CM Yogi Adityanath applying tilak from ashes is being revived online claiming he paid tribute to the police constable who died protecting Umesh Pal, the prime witness in MLA Raju Pal's murder in 2005. The video shared on Twitter has been captioned as, “This is called Justice.... @myogiadityanath ji all most shattered on constables death. I was expecting something similar to protect law and order in #UttarPradesh #YogiAdityanath #YogiKaNayaUP #Encounter #AtiqueAhmed #UPSTF”
Fact
News 18 on March 19, 2020, reported that Yogi Adityanath reached Gorakhpur and commenced the festival of Holi by applying a tilak from the ashes of the Holika. He did this at the Gorakhnath Temple. BOOM had debunked the same video in March, 2023. On February 24, 2023, lawyer Umesh Pal, the sole witness in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal, was attacked and murdered outside his residence in Prayagraj. Constable Raghvendra Singh, who was in charge of his security was also injured during the shootout and succumbed to his wounds on March 1. At that time the video of Yogi Adityanath was shared in this context with claims that he was honouring Singh's sacrifice by applying tilak from ashes. The video has now resurfaced on April 13 after the death of Asad Ahmad, reported on media, in an encounter led by Uttar Pradesh’s Special Task Force in Jhansi. Asad is the son of mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, and was produced before a Prayagraj court in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case.