Twitter handle History of India (@RealHistoriPix) posted an inflammatory tweet by giving a fake communal twist to a recent incident wherein a 26-year-old man was lynched in the Mumbai-Latur-Bidar Express.
The post falsely claimed that "family members of a burkha-clad woman" had lynched the young Hindu man named Sagar Markad over a seat dispute. Central Railways' official Twitter handle refuted the claim in a reply, stating that there was no communal angle to the crime and that it was exclusively because of a seat-dispute-gone-wrong among people of same community.
Communal twist
On February 14, 2020, History of India tweeted:
"Sagar (26) was traveling in Train from Pune with his wife & new born girl. He requested a Burkha clad woman to make space for his wife in general bogey, her 12 family members lynched him to death in front of his wife & new born in girl. No MSM covering it because Secularism!"
The user also added a link to a Navbharat Times article in the tweet thread.
Click here to view an archived version of the tweet.
With over 27000 followers, History of India's tweet got viral pretty quickly, with many users sharing the post and furthering the false claim.
Some users also posted links to an India Today article to back up the claim.
Click here to view an archived version of the tweet.
Fact Check
BOOM accessed the Navbharat Times and India Today article mentioned in the links, which provided more clarity on the incident in the Mumbai-Latur-Bidar Express last Thursday.
According to both the articles, 26-year old Sagar Markad was traveling with his family to their native Kurdwadi to attend the last rites of a relative. During the course of the journey Markad got into an argument with a female co-passenger over a seat. This eventually led to the woman, and 11 other people accompanying her, attack Sagar with sticks and render him unconscious.
He was rushed to a hospital in Pune district's Daund junction, where he was declared dead. All the accused have been arrested. The incident was also covered by News18, Pune Mirror, The New Indian Express and Business Standard among many others.
BOOM noticed that none of the articles mentioned the religion of the group of people who attacked Markad.
Soon enough, the official Twitter handle of the Central Railways took to Twitter to refute History of India's claim.
Click here to view an archived version of the tweet.
According to Central Railways' tweet, "There was no two communities involved in this incident. It was a fallout of a tiff over seat-sharing in a compartment of the train." The tweet also urged the user behind the History of India handle to refrain from spreading unverified and fake news.
BOOM reached out to Daund Railway Police - who confirmed to us that there were no Muslims involved in the incident.
We also got in touch with Harsha Shah, the chairman of Railway Pravasi Group, who also refuted the claims of communal angle and confirmed to us the names, age and gender of the accused as follows:
Tarabai Maruti Pawar (F30), Tai Hanumant Pawar (F35), Kalavati Dhondiba Chavhan (F65), Jamuna Datta Kale (F20), Gangubai Namdev Kale (F40), Rupali Somnath Chavhan (F21), Ganesh Shivaji Chavhan (M24), Nikita Ashok Kale (F20), Hanumant Ganpat Pawar (M30), Sonu Appa Kale (24) and Ashok Appa Kale (M35), along with some juveniles.