A graphic video showing a man hacking another to death is being circulated with a false communal claim that it shows a Hindu being killed by a Muslim in the middle of a road in Delhi's Sarai Kale Khan area.
BOOM found that there was no communal angle to the incident. The video shows an incident that occurred on July 17, 2024, in Vinukonda, Palnadu district, Andhra Pradesh. We also found that the assailant and the deceased were from the Muslim community.
In the viral video, a man is seen brutally hitting another man with a sharp weapon in the middle of a road, resulting in the victim's hand being severed.
BOOM has chosen not to include the posts in the fact check due to the graphic nature of the video.
The video is being shared with a Hindi caption that translates to, "This incident is being reported from Delhi Sarai Kale Khan. All news reporters are requested to highlight this via WhatsApp. *Incident near Delhi Sarai Kale Khan, Javed killed Hindu youth Rohit....Wherever the number of Muslims has increased in the country, there".
(Original Text in Hindi: यह घटना दिल्ली सरायकाले खां की पता चल रही है ह्वाट्सऐप के माध्यम से आप सभी न्यूज रिर्पोटरों से अनुरोध है की इसको हाइलाइट करें *दिल्ली सराय काले खा के पास की घटना जावेद ने हिंदू युवक रोहित का कत्ल कर दिया....जहाँ भी मुसलमानों की संख्या देश मे ज्यादे हो गई है वहाँ पर)
Click here for an archive link of the post.
The video is also circulating with false captions in Marathi claiming that the incident happened in Mumbai, where a Bajrang Dal activist Arvind Vaid was killed by Muslims.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a related keyword search based on details seen in the video and found a report published by The Indian Express on July 19, 2024, which included screengrabs of the incident.
The article states that the incident occurred in Andhra Pradesh, where a youth leader of the YSRCP (Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party) was hacked to death on the main road in Vinukonda town, Palnadu district.
The Indian Express report stated, "Sheikh Rashid, 27, was the YSRCP’s youth wing secretary for Palnadu district. According to police, he was assaulted on Wednesday night with a sickle allegedly by one Sheikh Jilani."
We also came across a report by The Hindu, published on July 18, 2024, which included a statement from the Superintendent of Police regarding the murder.
According to The Hindu article, "The Superintendent of Police Kanchi Srinivasa Rao, in a statement informed that the murder happened due to the personal rivalry. He denied the allegations of involvement of political differences in this murder."
In a Facebook post on July 26, the Palnadu Police announced that they had arrested Jilani and six other individuals in connection with the murder. The post in Telugu also mentioned that the accused were taken into custody regarding the brutal murder incident.
Click here to view the post.
BOOM Hindi had earlier fact checked the video when it went viral with a false communal angle.