A video showing crowd surrounding a vehicle and later giving it a chase is viral on social media with misleading captions claiming that the public had chased the vehicle of Shrikant Sharma, cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh government.
BOOM found that the video is not from UP, and the vehicle shown in the clip belongs to former state president of BJP Jharkhand Ravindra Ray.
Uttar Pradesh is going for Assembly elections this month. In the first phase starting February 10, polling will be held in 58 assembly constituencies of the state. The video is viral in this backdrop.
The 25-second-long clip shows a vehicle is being chased by a crowd. A Hindi caption with the video translates to 'Yogi Government's spokesperson and cabinet minister Shrikant Sharma was chased by the public in Uttar Pradesh'.
(Hindi: योगी सरकार के प्रवक्ता और कैबिनेट मंत्री श्रीकांत शर्मा को UP की जनता ने खदेड़ा)
The video has been widely shared on Facebook with similar captions.
Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search on keyframes of the viral clip and found that the same video was uploaded by a YouTube page 22Scope on January 30, 2022.
The video was titled 'Ex BJP MP Ravindra Rai attacked. Driver steers vehicle out of danger'.
Taking cue, we did a keyword search and found several news reports on the incident.
According to news reports published in several Hindi language dailies, protests over inclusion of Bhojpuri and Magahi in the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) examinations have turned violent in the state. Ray's vehicle was attacked when he was en route to Rajganj to join the working committee of Dhanbad Kisan Morcha.
Ray is the former MP from Koderma, Jharkhand. He later filed an FIR in Chas Mufassail Police Station in Bokaro against unidentified persons for attacking him, reported Times of India.
BOOM also found the same video uploaded by Ray from his verified Facebook profile.
A Hindi caption with Ray's post translates to 'I am sharing this video for those who are saying that I am defaming the protests... had it not been for the alertness of the driver, I am not sure I would have been able to share this with you'.
(Hindi: जो लोग कह रहे हैं कि मैं आंदोलन को बदनाम कर रहा हूँ उनके लिए यह वीडियो साझा कर रहा हूँ , अगर आज ड्राइवर ने सूझबूझ नहीं दिखाई होती तो पता नहीं आज मैं आपके साथ यह साझा कर भी पाता या नहीं।)
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BOOM also checked for news on any attack reported on BJP leader Shrikant Sharma but found none.