Video Of Stone Pelting On Raj Police Shared With False Communal Claim

A video showing a crowd pelting stones at policemen is being shared on social media with captions falsely claiming that stones were pelted by the Muslim community.

BOOM found that the viral video is from Rajasthan and the incident was not a communal one.

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The viral video shows a group of people standing at one end of a road throwing stones at policemen standing at the other end. The policemen can be seen retreating.

A Hindi caption with the viral video translates to 'After Karauli and Jodhpur, now the peaceful community is pelting stones in Dholpur. Where was the Ramnavami DJ being played now that they pelted stones'.

The caption points out to the earlier incidents of communal violence in Rajasthan's Jodhpur and Karauli earlier this year.

(Hindi: करौली और जोधपुर के बार अब धौलपुर में शांतिप्रिय समुदाय की पत्थरबाज़ी..अब कौनसा रामनवमी का DJ बज रहा था जो पत्थरबाजी हो रही है)

View the post here.

The video is viral on Twitter with similar claims.

Fact Check

BOOM did a keyword search with the words 'धौलपुर' on YouTube and found a news report on the verified YouTube channel of First India News uploaded on May 26, 2022. The report says the incident took place in Bari of Rajasthan's Dholpur.

According to a report published in Dainik Bhaskar, the incident took place on May 26, 2022. The report states that one Krishna, son of Hari Singh was absconding in connection with an attempted rape case. The complaint against Krishna had been filed by his younger brother's wife around three months ago.

The report further states that the accused had been arrested back then and was later let out on bail. However, when the police reached his house for questioning two days ago, he was not home. The police had asked the family members to send him to the police station.

On the morning of May 26, the accused reached the police station in an inebriated state and started abusing the policemen, the report adds. He was then taken to Bari hospital for a medical checkup but he fainted there. Later, he was shifted to Dholpur hospital.

In the meanwhile, rumours started spreading that the accused had been assaulted in police custody and public started gathering at Bari and Basedi roads and blocked it using stones and wood. Later, stone pelting ensued and the police force had to retreat.

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The family members of Krishna accused the police of assaulting him in custody, says the Bhaskar report. However, police denied the accusations.

BOOM also spoke to Dholpur police and found that the incident did not have a communal angle.

Speaking to BOOM, a police personnel said that the stone pelting was a result of rumours that the accused had died in police custody. "The man is fine now. There is no communal angle to it. The violence had spread only because of rumuors of his death spreading around," the police official told BOOM.

We also obtained a statement by the superintendent of police, Dholpur Narayan Togas.

In his statement, Togas can be heard saying in Hindi, "A case had been registered against Krishna, son of Hari Singh at Bari police station. He walked to the police station at Bari today morning. He was inebriated so we took him to the hospital. At the hospital he was checked thoroughly and was found to be in inebriated state. His vital stats were fine. Then he was brought here for treatment and he is fine now. We have sent extra force to keep things in control in Bari."