Social Media Gives Communal Spin To Bengaluru Youth Stabbed To Death Case

A road rage incident from Bengaluru, where a youth was allegedly stabbed to death after a minor collision between two bikes, is being shared with a false and communal claim that the victim is a Hindu who was killed by Muslims.

BOOM found that the victim Chandru is a Christian and the incident is a case of road rage. Bengaluru West Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr. Sanjeev Patil told BOOM that after a minor collision between two bikes, the accused and the victim got into a heated confrontation which led to the accused stabbing the victim.

On April 5, 2022, Chandru (22) was allegedly stabbed to death by accused Shahid (21) after their bikes collided and led to fight between the two and their friends.

A Facebook page 'The Right Voice' shared a video from Kannada news outlet - Kasthuri News 24, with the caption, "Another day, another one. A Hindu lad named Chandru was brutally murdered by I$£@mic j!hadis in Goripalya, Bangalore, Karnataka, just because he was refused to speak in Urdu and he communicated in his mother tongue, Kannada. The area is dominated by Muslims. Only few channels had cover the news but others remaining mum on this. What happened to these media? (sic)

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Right-wing website OpIndia also covered the incident with an article with the headline, "Karnataka: Pasha, Shahid and a juvenile stab Chandru to death for 'not speaking Urdu'". OpIndia later changed their headline to "Karnataka: Pasha, Shahid and a juvenile stab Chandru to death for 'not speaking Urdu', police deny claims" and added an update stating, "Update: Police has denied that Chandru was killed for 'speaking only in Kannada'."

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The same incident is being shared with the false communal claim on Facebook.

Also Read: Old Photo Of Rajasthan Traffic Cop Being Assaulted Shared With Communal Spin

FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that the victim stabbed to death in the Bengaluru road rage case - Chandru is Christian and not a Hindu as claimed.

The Indian Express had reported on the incident on April 6, 2022, stating that the deceased, identified as Chandru, was a resident of Jai Maruthinagar and was on his way back from an eatery along with his friend Simon Raj around 2:30 am on a motorcycle.

It further stated that in the Haleguddadahalli area, Chandru's bike reportedly collided with another bike which resulted in a heated argument when Chandru was attacked with a knife and the accused Shahid sped away. While Raj also sustained injuries, Chandru was rushed to Victoria hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.

The report mentions that the Bengaluru Police have arrested three accused - Shahid Pasha (21), Shahid Goli (22) and a minor.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner clarifies on Twitter

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant tweeted details of the incident stating that it was a road rage incident and the victim belonged to the Christian community.

Commissioner Pant tweeted stating, "JJ Nagar PS murder case. In the midnight of 05.04.2022, Simon Raj and Chandru [ 22 years, r/o Cottonpete, Christian by community] had gone to an eatery on Mysore Road. While returning back on their bike, they collided with another bike, being ridden by one Shahid. 1/2"

In his next tweet, he stated that a quarrel led to a fight, and the victim was stabbed by the accused. "It led to a quarrel, which was joined by others. During the fight, Shahid stabbed Chandru on his right thigh and assailants fled from the spot. Chandru was shifted to Victoria hospital, where he succumbed to injury. All the 3 accused persons are arrested," the second tweet read.

Karnataka State Police also published a fact-check on Kasthuri News 24's video report which claimed that Chandru was killed for not speaking Urdu.

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BOOM also spoke to Bengaluru West Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr. Sanjeev Patil who stated that after the accident between the two bikes, the accused and the victims got into a confrontation which led to a stabbing incident.

"After the accident between two bikes there was an altercation which led to a stabbing incident," DCP Patil told BOOM.

BOOM was able to access a copy of the FIR filled in the case from a crime reporter in Bengaluru. We did not find any mention that the accused told the victim to speak in Urdu instead of Kannada as being claimed.