Karnataka: Villagers lay siege to residence raided by forest department officials
Mundagoda: In an incident that reportedly occurred on Friday night, Zonal officials and staff from the Forest Department had arrived at a residence in Kendalageri village to carry out a raid when the people of the village laid siege to the residence forcing the department’s officials to remain stuck inside in the house.
Reportedly, a local had informed the Forest Department that a resident of the village had indulged in deer hunting. Based on that information, the forest department staff had raided the latter’s house. However, they did not find any item in the house to indicate the claim. Angered by the raid, the villagers laid siege outside the residence forcing RFO Suresh Kullolli, who led the raid and other Forest Department staff to an inadvertent house arrest.
PSI Basavaraj Mabanur and police staff reportedly arrived at the village and placated the villagers. Later, while the police tried to take the Forest Department staff in their jeep, the villagers are said to have obstructed their path for another half an hour to stop the Forest Department officials from leaving. The villagers were adamantly demanding that the Forest Department officials reveal the identity of the informant who said that a villager had indulged in deer hunting, it is learned. ‘
After 1.5 hours of appealing and talks, the police reportedly managed to convince the villagers and take the Forest Department officials and staff away from the village.
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Fact Check: Muslim man urinates on Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli? No, the claim is false
Claim: The video shows people thrashing a Muslim man for urinating on a Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.
Fact: The claim is false. Raebareli's Bachhrawan Police Station SHO OP Tiwari confirmed to NewsMeter that the accused’s name is Vinod and he belongs to the Hindu community.
Hyderabad: In the context of the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh, a video has surfaced showing a group of people assaulting a man while using abusive language against him. Those sharing the video claim the man being assaulted is a Muslim man who was allegedly caught by the locals for urinating on photos of Maha Kumbh and Hindu deities displayed on a wall.
An X user, Baba Banaras, who has been caught several times indulging in misinformation, shared the video and wrote, “Rae Bareilly, UP: Abdul Urinates on Photos of Mahakumbh and Hindu Deities on Wall, Caught by Locals. (sic)” (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. While the video is from Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, our investigation revealed that the man accused of urinating belongs to the Hindu community.
We conducted a keyword search and found reports by Amar Ujala and India Daily published on January 11. Both reports mentioned the viral video which captured the assault.
According to these reports, the incident allegedly occurred on the evening of January 10, 2025, at the main intersection of Bachhrawan town in Raebareli. Locals caught the accused and assaulted him, while someone at the scene recorded the incident and shared the video on social media.
Neither report named the accused nor specified his community. However, mentioned that inspector OP Tiwari stated an investigation into the viral video is ongoing.
We also found another X user sharing the video with the same communal claim. However, the X handle of Raebareli police replying to the post clarified that the man being assaulted in the video is Vinod, a hawker from Kannauj district, who, in an intoxicated state, urinated near the wall, unaware of the presence of the Kumbh poster. The reply also clarified that the claim that Vinod belongs to a different community is false and baseless.
— Raebareli Police (@raebarelipolice) January 13, 2025
NewsMeter reached out to Bachhrawan SHO OP Tiwari, who refuted the claim that the accused belongs to the Muslim community. He clarified, “The accused’s name is Vinod, also known as Dinesh, son of Bharat, and he belongs to the Hindu community.”
Tiwari also shared a press release about the incident issued by the Bachhrawan Police Station. The statement confirmed that the accused, Vinod alias Dinesh, was arrested in accordance with the law and presented before the court.
Therefore, we conclude that the claim of a Muslim man urinating on a Kumbh Mela poster in Raebareli, UP, is false.
