A video of YouTuber Nitish Rajput, where he speaks about a higher number of Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) facing criminal charges is circulating on social media with claims misidentifying Rajput as an IPS officer Shailajakant Mishra.
BOOM found that the video was uploaded on July, 2020, by content creator Nitish Rajput. Rajput is an entrepreneur and author, he makes videos on current topics. We also reached out to Rajput's team, who confirmed that he is not an IPS officer.
The video tweeted by author Harinder S Sikka, is captioned as, "Kindly bring the bitter truth to every countryman. Since independence, we are devoted to criminal leaders like slaves. Emergency, Operation Bluestar, killing of Sikhs in 1984, burning of Hindus alive in Godhra train, earning money by rebate on liquor in Delhi…? The fault is ours, we are impotent, not the leader."
(Original tweet text in Hindi: कृपा हर देशवासी तक कड़वा सत्य पहुँचाए। आज़ादी के बाद से हम ग़ुलामों की तरह आपराधिक नेताओं को समर्पित हैं। इमर्जन्सी,ऑपरेशन ब्लूस्टार,1984 में सिखों की हत्या,गोदरा ट्रेन में हिंदुओं को ज़िंदा जलाना,दिल्ली में शराब पर छूट से पैसे कामना…? क़ुसूर हमारा है,हम नपुंसक हैं,नेता नहीं।)
The video has been edited to include the text, "He is Shailajakant Mishra, IPS Officer, Lucknow, Police. Hats off to his depth of knowledge!".
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
BOOM observed the video closely and noticed a watermark with the username "nitishrajpute" . Upon scanning the replies to the tweet, we noticed a verified Twitter user named Nitish Rajput, who replied to the tweet with a YouTube link of the video.
Taking a cue from the watermark and tweet reply, we searched the username "nitishrajpute" on Twitter and found the profile of Nitish Rajput on the platform.
We also noticed Rajput has described himself as a content creator, entrepreneur and an author of a book titled "The Broken Pillars of Democracy" in his Twitter bio section.
The same search on Instagram led us to his profile on the platform, where we found the same video that was uploaded on July 26, 2020. The video can be seen below.
An excerpt from the caption of the video reads, "In this video I am talking about how criminals participate in elections. Not only do they participate but win and make their place in the Indian politics. What makes them win? How do they make their way into the system. Why do people vote for them?"
We also found several news reports by India Today, DNA and Outlook India who attributed Rajput as an YouTuber and digital activist.
BOOM also reached out to Nitish Rajput's team who confirmed that he is not an IPS officer.
Furthermore, a keyword search related to "IPS Officer Shailajakant Mishra" led us to the website of Uttar Pradesh Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad (UPBTVP) where the photo of retired IPS officer Shailja Kant Mishra can be seen. He is serving as the vice chairman of UPBTVP, according to the website.
IPS Officer Shailajakant Mishra (Photo Credit: UPBTVP)
An Amara Ujala report on 1977 batch IPS officer Shailajakant Mishra can be read .