Hubballi: BJP President Amit Shah was in for a surprise on Tuesday when Election Commission officials searched his private aircraft on landing in this Karnataka city for party events ahead of the May 12 assembly poll.

"A team of our officials searched the chartered aircraft in which Shah arrived here from New Delhi for party activities, to ensure the Model Code of Conduct is being observed," a poll official told IANS over phone.

Shah, who is on a two-day visit to the was accompanied by two more party leaders.

The search was carried by three poll officials, though nothing "unusual" was found in the aircraft.

"It was a routine check. Found nothing. It's part of our drill under the MCC, in force since March 27 when the election was announced," noted the official.

Party's Lok Sabha member from Dharwad Prahlad Joshi received Shah at the airport and accompanied him to Kaginele in Byadgi taluk of Haveri district for addressing a convention of Other Backward Classes.

Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was going to form the next government in the state, Shah said the party would fulfil the demand of the OBC community for constitutional status to the OBCs.

"Though the BJP-led NDA government has formulated 116 schemes for the OBCs across the country, unfortunately, they have not been reaching the intended beneficiaries in Karnataka due to non-cooperation of the state government," charged Shah without naming the ruling Congress.

Later, the party chief visited Badami in the state's northwest Bagalkot district for an interaction with seers of religious sects and mutts.

 

 

 

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Claim: A Muslim youth is the perpetrator of the attack on a tribal man in Wayanad who was dragged by a car on the road.

Fact: The claim is misleading. The accused in the case includes members of Muslim and Hindu communities.

Hyderabad: Controversy erupted in Wayanad, Kerala, after the body of Chundamma, an 80-year-old tribal woman, was carried to her funeral in an autorickshaw because an ambulance was not available.

Another disturbing event followed the incident in Chemmad in Kerala where a tribal man was dragged on the road for half a kilometre. An alleged video of the incident has been circulating on social media, with the claim that mainstream media is silent about the incident because the alleged accused in the incident is a Muslim, and it occurred in Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi’s constituency.

The video shows a person being dragged by the passenger of a moving red Maruti Celerio car, which eventually stops at a distance.

An X user shared the video and wrote, “Mainstream media is silent because, Muhammad Riyas (Muslim) in Wayanad Dragged Tribal Youth by Car in Brutal Assault – Priyanka Gandhi is busy pli-stains but not on this Incident in Her Constituency.. (sic)” ( Archive )

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading. The accused in the case belong to both Muslim and Hindu communities.

A reverse image search led us to a report by The Hindu published on December 16, 2024. It was titled ‘Tribal man dragged by Car in Kerala’s Wayanad, police register case’. It contained a screen grab of the viral video, featuring the red car and the man being dragged along its side.

The report stated that the victim, 49-year-old Mathan, a resident of the Chemmad tribal hamlet, suffered severe injuries to his arms and legs and is currently undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College Hospital in Mananthavady. The incident happened in Wayanad, which is Priyanka Gandhi’s constituency.

According to the report, the police have identified the car’s owner as Muhammad Riyas, a resident of Malappuram’s Kuttipuram, through vehicle documents. However, the report also stated that it is unclear if Muhammad Riyas was driving at the time of the incident, with eyewitnesses reporting that five people were in the vehicle.

Further, a keyword search uncovered a report by Mathrubhumi on December 18, 2024, titled ‘Lookout notice issued for two accused in Wayanad tribal youth dragging case’.

According to the report, two individuals, Abhiram K Sujith (23) and Muhammad Arshid (25), both from Pachilakkad, have been arrested in connection with the case. The report stated that Abhiram and Arshid were remanded to the Special Court in Mananthavady, which handles cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Additionally, the police have issued lookout notices for two more suspects: TP Nabeel Kamar (25) and K Vishnu, residents of Panamaram in Wayanad.

We found several other reports, including from the Deccan Chronicle and The Indian Express, which also stated that Muhammed Arshad and Abhiram S were arrested in the incident, and the police are now searching for Nabeel and Vishnu. None of the reports mentioned a communal motive behind the incident.

Therefore, the claim that a Muslim youth was responsible for the assault on the tribal man in Wayanad is misleading. The accused in the case include members from both Muslim and Hindu communities.

(This story was originally published by News Meter, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)