No, Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner did not suffer a fatal cardiac arrest
The Verdict Misleading
The Commissioner's office told Logically Facts that he collapsed due to low blood pressure but recovered shortly after.
What is the claim?
A 45-second video of Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Thomson Jose collapsing at an event has been shared with the claim that he suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
A Facebook user shared a video (archived here) with a caption in Telugu that translates to, "Yesterday, Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner Thomas Jose collapsed and died." Archive links to similar posts can be found here and here.
Screenshots of some of the posts circulating online (Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)
However, the claim is misleading. Though Thomson Jose was seen collapsing at the event, it was due to low blood pressure, not a heart attack, and he recovered after medical aid.
What are the facts?
The viral video has the logo of Manorama News at the bottom left corner. Using this clue, we found the original video (archived here) shared by the news channel on Instagram. The post caption, in Malayalam, translates to: "Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Thomson Jose collapsed during the Republic Day celebrations."
A Google search based on this caption led us to a report published by local news outlet Mathrubhumi on January 26, 2025, headlined: "City Police Commissioner faints at Republic Day event in presence of Kerala Governor."
According to the report, the incident happened at the Republic Day celebrations organized at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on January 26. Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar was delivering his Republic Day speech when the Commissioner fainted suddenly due to heat stroke, the report stated, adding he was given medical aid in an ambulance at the venue. The report added that the Commissioner returned to the event after his condition stabilized.
Logically Facts contacted the Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner's office for more information on what happened. Sreeja VS, Confidential Assistant to the Commissioner, said, "The Commissioner collapsed due to low blood pressure. The Commissioner did not have breakfast that day; he had been at the parade grounds since early morning for the Republic Day celebrations. Nothing else happened to his health. He was provided initial medical aid, and then he was alright and resumed the event. He is perfectly alright now."
Sreeja VS added that a probe has been initiated into the false claims, and action will be taken.
The verdict
A video of the Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner collapsing due to low blood pressure has been shared with the false claim that he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.
(This story was originally published by logicallyfacts.com, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
ALSO READ: Slain Australia beach shooting suspect native of Hyderabad: T'gana police
Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
