Fact-check: Video of man beaten in Amravati after road accident given false communal spin

A group of people reportedly thrashed the man after he rammed his vehicle into a motorcycle

A video of a mob beating a man has been shared widely on social media. AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan shared the video and wrote, “This is how new records are being reached in the new India. If you have some humanity in you, you will be saddened by such incidents. As always, the individual sporting the skullcap, kurta, and beard becomes the victim of such atrocities. The BJP may have failed in its mission to bring about development, but it has succeeded in spreading hatred. How unfortunate!”

Khan also shared the video on Facebook, logging over 10 lakh views as of publishing.

From the account of one Usama Ibrahim Qasmi, the clip drew 17,000 views. “Show this video to those Muslims who are cremating the dead bodies of Hindus with great enthusiasm,” he wrote.

Fact-check

A user shared a newspaper clipping in a reply to the AAP legislator’s tweet. The clipping states that a crowd of people in Amravati thrashed a van driver. The driver Faizan A. Kalam had reportedly rammed his vehicle into a motorcycle parked on the side of the road. A June 15 report by Marathi media outlet Lokmat said that the van dragged the two-wheeler for 3 km. Mahendra Bapurao Basavanathe, residing in a rented accommodation in Gurudevnagar, had parked his motorcycle outside his house. Bystanders who witnessed the van dragging his bike chased and caught Kalam and beat him. Kalam is a resident of Mahuli Jahangir. Tivsa police has registered a case against him.

The police booked Kalam under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, according to Maharashtra Times.

Alt News reached out to police inspector Rita Like from Tivsa police station who confirmed that the incident was not religiously motivated. “A van driver had dragged a motorcycle parked on the road for 2.5-3 km. The vehicles in front of the car narrowly escaped a collision. Locals chasing the van managed to stop the driver and beat him up when he was caught. The driver seemed to be in an inebriated condition. The police have registered a complaint against the driver and those who beat him. But there is no communal angle. The van driver was thrashed by an angry mob over the accident,” she explained.

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan and other social media users falsely gave a communal spin to a video of a mob in Amravati beating up a van driver following an accident.