A disturbing video showing two men violently attack a man with sledgehammers on a busy road in Faridabad, Haryana, is circulating with a false claim that it shows a communal attack.
BOOM found that both the assailants and the victim belong to the same community. We reached out to DSP Nitish Agarwal, Haryana Police, who confirmed that the victim, Manish Gurjar was attacked by three men, over personal enmity and belong to the same religion and caste.
The video shows graphic visuals of a man being beaten by two men with a rod and a sledgehammer in broad daylight.
A Twitter user shared the video with a caption, "And this is India on Daily basis against minorities. It is shameful that US, Human rights orgs and Western media are keeping a blind eye for their own business benefits: #Faisalabad #SolidariTea4Kashmir"
(Note: the video is disturbing in nature)
The video was also shared on Facebook with the same claim.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a keywords search with, "hammer attack on man" on Google and the results show several news reports on the incident.
According to a Hindustan Times report from December 7, 2021, the two accused were identified as Lalit Kumar and Pradeep Singh. They attacked Manish Gurjar (27) over personal enmity. The accused and the victim belonged to the Fatehpur Chandila village.
India Today reported on December 6, 2021 that the victim was attacked with a sledgehammer and rods in Badkhal Lake Chowk, Faridabad in Haryana. The report also carried the viral video which was recorded by onlookers at the spot.
Gurjar, who suffered multiple injuries, had reportedly assaulted Pradeep's brother, Yogesh a year ago, in 2020.
BOOM reached out to DSP Nitish Agarwal, Haryana Police, who confirmed that the victim, Manish Gurjar was attacked by three men, over personal enmity and belong to the same religion and caste. Agarwal further added, "The accused Lalit and Pradeep tried to escape after firing in the air however Sub Inspector Bijendra and his team nabbed them. The third accused Sachin was later arrested. Police have registered a case against three under serious sections."
DSP Agarwal further mentioned Gurjar sustained multiple injuries all over his body and suffered multiple fractures in his legs, and was later taken to Fortis hospital where he is being treated.
The same incident was also reported by Bhaskar.