News wire agency Press Trust of India (PTI) misreported Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh's statement by erroneously reporting that the minister said 'no Hindus among those arrested in the Palghar lynching incident'. Deshmukh, in fact, in a video said the opposite that there were no Muslims on the list of 101 accused arrested by the police.
In a now deleted tweet, PTI reported, 'No Hindu among those arrested in Palghar lynching incident: Maha Home Minister Anil Deshmukh'.
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Several replies to PTI's tweet stated that Anil Deshmukh said the opposite.
On the night of April 16, 2020, a mob in Maharashtra's Palghar district lynched three people including two Hindu seers - Sushil Giri Maharaj (35), Chikane Maharaj Kalpavrikshgiri (70) and their driver Nilesh Telgane (35) who were passing by a village while on their way to Surat to attend a funeral. 101 people including juveniles have been arrested so far.
As disturbing visuals of the mob beating the men to death emerged online, the incident triggered widespread outrage and accusations that the attack was communally motivated and that Palghar Police did nothing to shield the men from the mob's fury. BOOM found that fake messages claiming child kidnappers and thieves are on the prowl in various villages in Palghar were viral among local residents, days before the incident.
Also Read: How Child Kidnapping Rumours Led To A Mob Lynching In Palghar
A coalition government in Maharashtra led by Uddhav Thackeray is also under pressure to book the perpetrators and deliver speedy justice in the case.
BOOM listened to the address by Anil Deshmukh, and found that he had not said the word 'Hindus' as erroneously tweeted by PTI.
At the 1.48 minutes mark, on mentioning the list of accused arrested by the Palghar police in the case, he states, "Not a single Muslim is there". "None of the accused arrested in connection with the incident is a Muslim. It is unfortunate that communal politics is being played following the incident," stated Deshmukh.
PTI deleted its erroneous tweet and tweeted again saying it was 'repeating changing a word', however, it did not issue a correction or acknowledging that the previous tweet had misreported the statement.
State home minister Anil Deshmukh later on Wednesday morning tweeted a list with the names of the accused and said there were attempts to give the crime a communal hue.