A video of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader being thrashed by a group of people in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh over a land dispute is being shared with a false claim that he was beaten up because of arguing and defending his party from criticism over the ongoing violence in Manipur.
Clashes between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribe in Manipur started May 3, 2023, with fresh violence erupting on July 26, 2023, in the North Eastern state's Moreh Bazar area, according to news reports. The role of the Manipur state government under BJP CM N. Biren Singh has been criticised for failing to control the violence in the state.
However, a flood of unrelated visuals have gone viral claiming to show the conflict in the North Eastern state.
In one such video, BJP UP leader Rahul Pandit can be seen running as a group of angry men hit him mercilessly with rods and sticks.
The video was tweeted with a caption that claimed, "BJP leader Rohit Pandit was brutally thrashed in Greater Noida! He was beaten with sticks after running. Was arguing about Manipur, people started beating him."
(In Hindi - ग्रेटर नोएडा में भाजपा नेता रोहित पंडित की भयंकर कुटाई हुई! दौड़ा-दौड़ा कर लाठी डंडों से कुटा गया! मणिपुर को लेकर बहस कर रहा था लोगों ने दे दना दन देना शूरू कर दिया।)
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The same video is being shared on Facebook with the same misleading claim.
Also Read:Old Poll Violence Video Revived As Manipur Police Beating Kuki Villagers
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that BJP leader and district president Rahul Pandit was beaten up in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh over a local land dispute in the area.
On running a keyword search, we found several news reports on the incident stating that the video is from Kasna area in Ladpura village, Uttar Pradesh where BJP leader Rahul Pandit was beaten up by a group of people.
Danik Bhaskar reporter Sachin Gupta had tweeted the viral video with the caption when translated reads, "BJP leader Rahul Pandit was chased and beaten in Greater Noida. The name of Lakhpat Singh, who got the gate built outside Ladpura village, is written. The other group is of Rahul Pandit. He was saying that the gate is on the land of the village society, no one's name should be there. There was a fight and stone pelting on this. A case has been registered against 11 people."
According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, the incident in the viral video is from Ladpura village which comes under the jurisdiction of Kasna police station. The report states that some land was lying vacant in the village on which some people of the village wanted to build a temple, but the Lakhpat family of the village who own the land refused to give the land for building the temple. This led to some youths who tried to erase the name Lakhpat written on the gate outside the village which was built by the members of the Lakhpat family.
Village gate (Source: Google maps)
It further states that when the youth started erasing the name on July 25, 2023, Lakhpat family members also reached the spot and there was an argument between both sides. This dispute then led to a fight. Later after police received information about the incident they registered a case against several people.
BOOM also found the FIR relating to this matter on the UP Police's official website. According to FIR, on July 25, 2023, at around 3:30 pm, Kasna police station had received information about damage to late Chaudhary Lakhpat Singh's name written on the main gate of Ladpura village and regarding a fight between the two parties. When the police reached the spot, they saw that there was a fight between the two sides with them beating each other with sticks.
The FIR stated that the police investigated the matter and found that it was caused due to an old land dispute between both these groups. The police registered a case against 11 known and 1 unknown person.
BOOM then contacted Santosh Kumar Shukla, In-charge of Kasna police station who confirmed that fight occurred due to a land dispute and denied that it was because of an argument over the violence in Manipur.
“There was a dispute between the two parties over the removal of the names written on the main gate outside the village. People from the other group had beaten up the BJP leader," Shukla told BOOM.
BOOM contacted BJP leader Rahul Pandit who also denied the viral claim and stated that, "It was a matter of land and gate dispute." Pandit also confirmed that he is the man being beaten in the viral video.