A video depicting a few people assaulting two individuals on a road has been circulated from Mumbai and portrayed as a religious hate crime by emphasizing the victims’ religious identities and occupations. However, D-Intent Data has found that the incident has nothing to do with religious hate crime as claimed by the users.
Sharing the video on X (Formerly Twitter), Propagandist account @MrSinha_ wrote. “Yesterday some Hindu Priests were attacked in Mumbai. As per reports, two Muslims have been arrested in this case so far. Imagine the amount of national international outrage if any Maulana was assaulted like this? Good work @Dev_Fadnavis ji. Later, he deleted the post.
Another propaganda account Deepak Sharma also shared the video and wrote, Deadly attack on priests in Mumbai… Hello @Dev_Fadnavis ji, Hindu priests were returning after performing puja in the Lalji Pada area of Kandivali, Mumbai when the brutes who hate Hindus attacked them.. @mohitbharatiya_ Bhaiya please take cognizance. Keep sleeping Hindus. (Translated from Hindi)
Other users, influencers and propagandists have also shared the video and made similar communal claims. Their posts can be seen here. @yati_Official1 @DrNamrata64
The truth about the viral video from Mumbai, Fact Check
As soon as the posts containing the visuals and communal claims came to our notice, we conducted research and analysis of the incident and found that the incident was not communal in nature.
To verify the claims made by the users, we conducted a relevant keyword search on Google which led us to several media reports about the incident. According to the media reports(TOI, HT, Jagran), Ashish Kumar Dube, 34, was riding a scooter with Ajit Agnihotri in Kandivali after a puja. Around 10:45 pm, a motorcycle brushed their scooter, causing them to fall. After a brief confrontation, they resumed their journey. At 11 pm, the motorcyclist returned with three others, verbally abused Dube. And attacked him with a knife and a bamboo stick. The group also assaulted Agnihotri. The police have arrested two suspects, Pratham Khilare and Chhotu Manihar. The incident is not related to a clash between religious communities. The incident is from Mumbai.
Hence, it is evident from D-Intent Data’s Fact Check that the incident that occurred in Kandivali, Mumbai was not communal. But it was a road rage incident.
Intent
Influencers and propagandists are circulating videos with misleading claims to set their narrative based on religion.
Conclusion
Claim– Two Hindu priests were targeted by a mob belonging to a particular community in Kandivali, Mumbai.
Fact– It was a road rage incident and all the accused don’t belong to a particular community.
Related Article: Fact Check: Howrah-Mumbai Express derailed in Jharkhand, Pakistanis spread false claims – D-Intent Data (dintentdata.com)
