News outlets NDTV India, Times Now Navbharat and Aaj Tak falsely claimed that the accused who viciously stabbed Delhi Police Assistant Sub Inspector Shambhu Dayal leading to his death, is a Muslim man.
BOOM spoke to Delhi Police who rubbished the viral claim and said that the accused is a Anish Raj, son of Prahlad Raj and that there is no communal angle to the incident
NDTV India, the Hindi wing of NDTV, in a video story about the CCTV footage of the incident, mentioned the accused as "Mohammed Anish". The false claim was also made by right-wing outlets Sudarshan News and Kreately.
Note the video contains graphic violence.
Times Now Navbharat, the Hindi news outlet of Times Now also made the same false claim of calling the accused Mohammed Anish.
The same fake claim was tweeted by Kreately, a right wing social media account that has been busted on several instances for peddling communally charged misinformation. While Kreately later deleted its tweet, the text in Hindi translated to, "Delhi Mayapuri's police station's ASI Shambhu Dayal, was stabbed by 'Miyan Anees' with a knife, injured ASI dead"
(Original text in Hindi - दिल्ली के मायापुरी पुलिस थाने के ASI शम्भू दयाल को मोबाइल चोर 'मियां अनीस' ने सरेआम मारे चाकू, घायल ASI की मौत)
Aaj Tak also made the same false claim and called the accused Mohammed Anees in its web story and TV news broadcast.
Other right-wing handles also falsely claimed the accused is one 'Anis'. Click here to view an archive of the tweet.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the accused is not a Muslim but a man named Anish Raj, (24), son of Prahlad Raj.
We first looked up news reports and found stories by the Indian Express and Times of India about the incident. According to the Indian Express, "A 57-year-old Delhi Police assistant sub-inspector (ASI), who was stabbed multiple times while trying to arrest a man accused of snatching a mobile phone earlier this week, succumbed to his injuries Sunday..."
The report further explained, "ASI Shambhu Dayal was taking the thief to the police station when he was stabbed in West Delhi's Mayapuri around 4 pm on January 4. He was admitted to BLK Hospital but died during treatment."
The report quoted an unnamed police officer as saying, "the woman pointed out the person and he caught the accused, Mayapuri resident Anish Raj (24). While Dayal was taking Anish to the police station, the latter pulled out a knife which he had kept hidden under his shirt and attacked him. Dayal sustained injuries on his chest, abdomen, neck and even on his back as he was stabbed multiple times."
A report by the Hindustan Times on January 6, before the death of the ASI, named the accused as Anish, and quoted, Ghanshyam Bansal, DCP West Zone as saying, "...Despite being stabbed multiple times, Dayal displayed a brave act that led to the arrest of the attacker, who is a habitual criminal registered as a bad character (BC) at the Mayapuri police station."
None of the media reports mentioned the accused with a Muslim name and also did not mention a communal angle to the incident.
We then contacted Mayapuri police station and a senior inspector with the station rubbished the claim and said, "the accused's full name is Anish Raj, aged 24. He is the son of a Prahlad Raj. They are residents of Mayapuri Phase 2 and the accused is a repeat offender." He added, "there is no communal angle to the incident. We will take action against those spreading false information."