Fact-Check: Clips of Fight From Hyderabad Shared With a False Communal Narrative

The Santhnagar Police and an involved party confirmed to The Quint that the matter was not communal.

Fact-Check: The claim is misleading. There was no communal angle found. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

(Trigger Warning: Graphic visuals of violence. Viewers discretion is advised)

A post, which shows videos of some people getting beaten and injured, is being shared to claim that a Muslim mob in Hyderabad, Telangana attacked Hindus.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot)

This post recorded 44.7K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

We also received a query about this on our WhatsApp tipline.

Is this true?: The claim is misleading.

• Sanathnagar Police told The Quint that there was no communal angle. The fight broke out over a local issue between two groups of people.

• The complainant also confirmed that the fight was not communal in nature.

• According to the First Information Report (FIR), those involved belong to both, the Hindu and Muslim communities.

How did we find out?: At first, we contacted the local police in the area and were told by local police authorities that there was "no communal angle involved."

• Police told The Quint that the fight broke out between two neighbouring slums over a local issue.

• They also told us that an FIR has been registered in this matter.

Victim's account: We spoke to one of victims of the incident, Baindla Jayanth Dharma Teja who told us, "There was no communal angle involved in the fight."

• The scuffle broke out when one Rahul and his friend spat on Jayanth's friend's bike outside a kite shop in their area.

• Jayanth interjected when Rahul and his friend picked up a fight with another other person who was present with him.

• The victim mentioned that the accused attacked his family members as well and used casteist slurs.

First Information Report: The Quint accessed the FIR that was registered on 14 January in the Sanathnagar Police Station and described the incident in detail.

• It mentioned that two people, the complainant and one Robin, were at a shop in Babbuguda, when two men, namely Rahul and Abbas, picked up a fight with the latter.

• These two men 'spat' next to Robin's motorcycle and the complainant interjected.

• The matter escalated when Rahul, accompanied by a few people, came near Robin's residence and verbally abused them. However, they fled when they saw the complainant coming to the spot, the FIR stated.

• Rahul and his group returned to attack Robin and his friends, who were subjected to casteist slurs and left one person with "bleeding injuries."

• The FIR also mentioned that the caste identity of the complainant was Scheduled Caste.

Who sustained injuries?: According to the FIR, the following people sustained injuries: Yadagiri, Denandam, Akash, Yadaiah, Prudvi, Robin, and Venkatesh.

Who are the accused?: According to the FIR, the following people are named as the accused in the case: Rahul, Abbas, Jai, Imran and Nikhil.

Action Taken: The police have registered a case against the accused under Sections 3(1)(r)(s)(c), 3(2)(V) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

• It also adds charges related to attempted murder (IPC 307) (Attempt to Murder), causing voluntary hurt (IPC 324), criminal intimidation (IPC 506), among others.

Conclusion: The video of the fight is being shared with a false communal claim. The accused and the aggrieved parties belong to both Hindu and Muslim communities.

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