A video of plain clothes policemen nabbing an armed accused and his accomplices in Ahmedabad is viral with a false claim that it shows Bharuch Police arresting a man named Siraj Mohd Anwar for the Delhi riots. BOOM found the viral video shows Ahmedabad police arresting a history sheeter and his aides, accused of various crimes from a local eatery (dhaba).
However, we also found that Bharuch Police on June 29, arrested a man named Siraj Mohd Anwar in a separate case that has no connection to the riots or the viral video from Ahmedabad.
The video shows plainclothes police personnel pretending to look for a table at an eatery and then nabbing four accused seated at a table. It is viral with the caption, "Live Operation of #Bharuch Crime Branch arresting mobsters from Delhi, guy named Siraj Mohd Anwar who was involved in #Delhi riots. Bharuch Crime Branch nabbed him on a tip off"
The caption claims the video shows the Bharuch police arresting an accused named Siraj Mohd Anwar and further adds that he was involved in the Delhi riots.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the video is from Patan district on June 27, where Ahmedabad crime branch officials arrested a history sheeter Kishore Panchal alias Kishore Lohar and his accomplices from a local eatery.
Indian Express and Times Of India carried reports of the same incident with screenshots of the viral video.
BOOM contacted DP Chudasama, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad Crime Branch who said the accused seen in the viral video have no connection to the Delhi riots case. Chudasama said the accused were history sheeters wanted for several crimes across Gujarat. "The main accused Kishore Panchal was involved in vehicular theft, assault, house burglary and illegal possession of arms. They are accused in cases of rape and extortion," he said. Chudasama further added none of the arrested accused in the video were named Siraj Mohd Anwar. "Any such claims of the accused being involved in cases in other states or in Delhi riots have not come up in our investigation so far."
We then ran a search for the name of the accused 'Siraj Mohd Anwar' as mentioned in the viral caim and found a story in the Indian Express about the Bharuch police arresting a small time arms dealers for illegal possession of two weapons.
Speaking to BOOM, JN Zala, police inspector, Bharuch Local Crime Branch said that Anwar was arrested on June 29 found with two weapons in his rucksack and was arrested on a tip off. "The accused hails from Delhi but has been a resident of Bharuch, Gujarat for many years now. Our investigation has not revealed any previous reported criminal history," Zala said. He further rubbished the viral claim and said, "The arrested accused does not have links to the Delhi riots cases as far we know."
Both Ahmedabad crime branch officials and Bharuch crime branch officials denied that the accused in both cases have links to the Delhi riots case.