Video of retaliation against Loni case accused in Fake

New Delhi, June 18: In the backdrop of the controversy surrounding the video shot at Loni, a new video has come up in which a large number of people are seen dragging two men out of a building and hitting them with sticks. It is being claimed in this video that the men who cut off the beard of an elderly Muslim man in Loni and hit him is now being thrashed by the public.

The caption written in Hindi translates to "brothers, see the consequences of cutting off the beard. One of the four accused was caught by the cops, while the rest were punished by the public."

In the Loni video the man claims that his beard was chopped off, following which he was beaten and forced to chant Jai Shri Ram. The UP police had rejected this claim and said that there was no communal angle to it. They also said that some of the accused are Muslims too.

However the one now being shared is not related to Loni. We found that this video in this video is of a fight that took place between two groups in Delhi's Jahangirpuri area. The video was in fact shared by several Delhi based local media outlets on June 13. The video was also shared by Alok Singh on Twitter.

He said, "three persons were caught and beaten up by the residents. They allegedly came to extort money from a vegetable seller in Jahangirpuri. All three are belonging to betting gangs and money deal was also related to the same. Later, they were handed over to the police."

Three persons were caught and beaten up by the residents. They allegedly came to extort money from a vegetable seller in Jahangirpuri. All three are belonging to betting gangs and money deal was also related to the same. Later, they were handed over to the police. pic.twitter.com/pAd2TDmbDN

— alok singh (@AlokReporter) June 13, 2021

Hence the claim being made that the video is related to the Loni incident is false and misleading.

Earlier the Uttar Pradesh police sent a legal notice to the India head of Twitter over the Ghaziabad video. Manish Maheswari, Managing Director, Twitter India has been asked to report to the police station at the Loni Border and record his statement within seven days.

Earlier this week Twitter lost the safe harbour immunity in India after it failed to comply with the new IT rules, which requires it to appoint key officers in India.

The development came shortly after a case was filed in Uttar Pradesh against Twitter over posts on a viral video of an assault that the police say tried to incite communal violence.

The rules came into effect on May 25 and Twitter is yet to comply with them and due to this their protection as an intermediary has gone. Twitter is liable for penal actions against any Indian law just as any publisher is, sources said.

Twitter was accused of not removing misleading content linked to an incident in Ghaziabad on June 5, in which an elderly Muslim man had alleged that his beard was cut off and he was forced to chant Jai Shri Ram and Vande Mataram by a group.

The police however said that the incident was not a communal one. In fact the man in question Sufi Abdul Samad was attacked by six men-both Hindus and Muslims as they were unhappy with the amulets he had sold to them. The FIR charged Twitter and several journalists for inciting communal sentiments with posts sharing the allegations made by the man of the assault.