A video showing a physical altercation between a group of people and a few horse and mule operators in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand is going viral online with a false and communal claim that the clip shows Muslim men attacking Hindu devotees at the pilgrimage site.
BOOM spoke to DSP Guptkashi Vimal Rawat who confirmed that there is no communal angle to the incident and that both the victims and assailants are Hindus.
The video shows a group of horse and mule operators involved in an argument with a few pilgrims on their way to visit Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand. The operators can later be seen attacking the devotees when the argument escalates.
The clip is currently doing rounds with a communal claim in Hindi that translates to, "Terror of Jihadis in Kedarnath! Viral video is being said of Uttarakhand Devbhoomi Kedarnath Dham. In Kedarnath, the Muslim Jihadi horse-mules accompanying the passengers beat the passengers with sticks and rods."
(Original Text in Hindi: केदारनाथ में जिहादियों का आतंक! वायरल वीडियो उत्तराखंड देवभूमि केदारनाथ धाम का बताया जा रहा है। केदारनाथ में यात्रियों के साथ मुस्लिम जिहादी घोड़ा खच्चर वालों ने यात्रियों को लाठी-डंडों से पीटा।)
Click here to view the tweet.
The video is also being shared on Facebook with the same false and communal claim.
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
BOOM first performed a related keyword search on Twitter about the incident and found that news agency ANI tweeted a screengrab from the video with a quote from Rudraprayag Police in Uttarakhand.
Click here to view the tweet.
The tweet from June 13, 2023, quoted Rudraprayag Police saying, "A case has been registered at Kotwali Sonprayag against horse and mule operators who assaulted the devotees on their way to Kedarnath Dham".
However, the tweet did not mention the name of the accused in the incident while quoting the Rudraprayag Police.
Taking a cue, when we checked Uttarakhand police's official Twitter handle and found that Uttarakhand Police tweeted about the incident on June 13, 2023, posting a picture of the accused.
On Facebook, Rudraprayag Police provided a detailed description of the incident on June 13. The statement said that Tanuka Pounder, a Delhi resident, filed a complaint saying she noticed a horse in bad condition near Bhimbali bridge on June 10 while walking towards Kedarnath from Gaurikund. She then sought some help for the horse and noticed a person brutally beating a few animals.
When she protested, a group of horse operators gathered there, and around 5 persons attacked her including people who came to rescue Tanuka. The attackers also threatened Tanuka to leave the state.
Later, an investigation by Rudraprayag Police revealed that the five accused in the case are Ankit Singh, Santosh Kumar, Rohit Kumar, Gautam, and a minor.
Rudraprayag Police on June 14 tweeted a further update about the incident. The tweet states that a case has been registered against the horse operators for assaulting the devotees on the Kedarnath Yatra pedestrian route and strict action has been taken to cancel their licences.
Click here to view the tweet.
BOOM reached out to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Guptkashi Vimal Rawat about the incident. When asked, Rawat refuted any communal angle to the incident as claimed in the viral posts.
"Neither victims nor accused are from the Muslim community," Rawat told BOOM.
