A disturbing video clip showing a speeding car run over a group of devotees marching in a procession in Jashpur, Chhattisgarh is viral on social media with misleading captions giving the incident a communal overtone.
BOOM spoke to the local police who denied any communal angle in the incident. We also accessed the First Information Report filed in the case and found that the accused and the victims are from the same community.
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The viral video shows a speeding vehicle come from behind and mow down people walking in a religious procession when they were on their way to immerse an idol of goddess Durga. The incident was reported in Pathalgaon in Jashpur, Chhattisgarh on October 15. According to news reports, one person had died in the incident while 20 were injured.
Meanwhile, social media users have linked the incident to recent communal violence that had gripped Kawardha town in Chhattisgarh. According to news reports, the town witnessed vandalism and destruction of property after altercations between two communities over removal of religious flags snowballed into communal violence on October 5.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell head Amit Malviya, among others, shared the viral clip with a caption giving the incident a communal twist. Malviya's caption reads 'A speeding vehicle runs over a Hindu religious procession in Jashpur, Chattisgarh, without any provocation whatsoever. This is second such instance of communal profiling and assault on Hindus while CM @bhupeshbaghel is busy helping the Gandhi siblings find political ground in UP'.
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The video is disturbing in nature. Viewers' discretion is advised.
The video has been shared with similar caption from multiple Facebook pages.
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Fact Check
A keyword search with 'Jashpur Chhattisgarh' led us to several news report on the incident.
A report published in The Hindu on October 15 stated that an over-speeding car laden with ganja (cannabis) ran over devotees who were on their way to immerse an idol of Durga in Pathalgaon of Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh.
The report further stated that the occupants of the vehicle were nabbed by the locals and had been identified as Bablu Vishwakarma and Shishupal Shori, both residents of Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh.
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The report also mentioned that the 'car was being driven by drug traffickers, who were hauling drugs from Odisha to Madhya Pradesh'.
Read more reports here and here.
BOOM then contacted Pratibha Pandey, additional superintendent of police, Jashpur for more details on the case.
Speaking to BOOM, Pandey said that there was no communal angle in the incident. "Two accused have been arrested. Both, the accused and victims, belonged to the same community," the ADSP added.
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We also obtained the First Information Report filed in the case. The FIR copy name the accused as Bablu Vishwakarma and Shishupal Sahu.
The press release issued by Jashpur police on October 16 also states that cannabis was found in the car and the accused Vishwakarma and Sahu had been arrested.
Press release by Jashpur police
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