An unrelated video of a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) assaulting a passenger for travelling without ticket onboard the Sampoorna Kranti Express is circulating on social media with false claims that Bihari migrants were assaulted in a train while fleeing from Tamil Nadu.
Several unrelated and violent videos are being circulated on social media with false narratives that migrant workers from Bihar were attacked in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The video is viral in this backdrop.
These fake videos started surfacing after an incident of attack on some migrant workers travelling in a train by a man who blamed them for "taking away job opportunities" was reported by news outlets. The video of the incident went viral following which the Railway police identified the accused as P Magimaidas and arrested him for promoting enmity.
Read BOOM's fact checks here, here, and here. Further, according to reports, 11 have been booked and three arrested for spreading rumours on migrant workers.
The video shows disturbing visuals of a TTE assaulting a youth after he fails to produce a ticket for the journey. The video has been shared on Facebook with a caption in Hindi, "The TTE is giving tickets in this way to Biharis who are running away from Tamil Nadu. Is this an accurate behavior by the TTE? And he is not even wearing his uniform."
(Original caption in Hindi: तमिलनाडु से भाग कर आ रहे बिहारियों को कुछ इस प्रकार से टीटी टिकट दे रहे हैं @RailMinIndia #RailMinIndia क्या टीटी के द्वारा ऐसा बर्ताव सही है और इसने अपनी वर्दी भी नहीं पहन रखी है)
BOOM reached out to Birendra Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, East Central Railway, who confirmed that the incident happened in Sampoorna Kranti Express before Holi enroute Patna from Delhi.
The video was also shared on Twitter with the same claim.
The video has been viewed more than 2800 times at the time of writing the fact check.
Fact Check
BOOM found a reply by the Railway Seva verified Twitter handle tagging the DRM of Danapur Division, to one Sintu Tiwari, who had tweeted the viral video with the same claim.
The verified Twitter account of Divisional Railway Manager of Danapur Division stated that the concerned TTE has been suspended immediately after the incident.
We then reached out to Birendra Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, East Central Railway, who told us that the incident happened onboard the Sampoorna Kranti Express before the festival of Holi. The train was running from Delhi to Patna. Kumar further told BOOM, "The video shows an incident from a few days back, before the festival of Holi. The person was travelling without ticket. The TTE has been suspended with immediate effect."
We were further able to confirm that the express train runs between Rajendra Nagar, Patna and New Delhi.
The route does not include any of the railway stations of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The same can be confirmed from National Train Enquiry System or other online ticketing sites.