Fact Check: Video of Delhi Murder Shared with False Communal Narrative

Factly fact checked a video of a few people stabbing a person, being shared on social media, with the claim that it was that of a Hindu man being attacked by Muslims in the Seelampur area of Delhi. Through this article, let’s see how the fact-checkers debunked the false claims, aimed at building a false communal narrative.

A video of a few people stabbing a person is widely circulating across social media platforms (here, here, here & here). The claim accompanying the video suggests that it shows a Hindu man being attacked by Muslims in the Seelampur area of Delhi. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.

The archived versions of similar posts can be found here, here & here.

Screengrab of the social media post trying to give communal narrative to the incident (ETV Bharat)

Claim: Visuals of a Hindu man being attacked by Muslims in the Seelampur area of Delhi.

Fact: The viral video shows visuals of a murder that happened in Delhi’s Jafrabad area on 05 May 2024. According to news reports and the police, the name of the deceased in this incident is Nazir. A senior Delhi Police official confirmed that all the accused and the deceased in this incident are Muslims, and there is no communal angle. Recently, in April 2024, another murder occurred in Seelampur. According to news reports, on 12 April 2024, a man named Shahnawaz was shot dead in broad daylight by a minor in Delhi’s Seelampur, in the E block of Khabri market. The SHO of Seelampur confirmed that there is no communal angle involved in this case either, and that all the accused, including the minor, are Muslims, and the deceased is also a Muslim. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.

To verify the authenticity of the viral claim and gather information about the video, we conducted a Google reverse image search using keyframes from the viral footage. This search led us to a news report published by ‘Newsnine‘ on 07 May 2024. According to the report, the victim in this incident was identified as 35-year-old Nazir, who was brutally stabbed to death in an attack in Delhi’s Jafrabad area on the evening of 05 May 2024. Police records indicate that several criminal cases were registered against Nazir. The incident is suspected to have been fueled by personal rivalry.

Taking a cue from this, we further searched to know more about this incident. This search led us to several news reports (here, here & here). According to these reports, Nazir, the deceased in this incident, was a resident of Chauhan Bangar in northeast Delhi. Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey stated that a team from Jafrabad police station apprehended four juveniles in connection with the case. He also revealed that the assailants confessed to committing the murder because Nazir had threatened one of them two days before the fatal attack. We also found a video of the DCP (northeast) of the Delhi Police speaking to the media about this incident on ‘ANI’.

We further accessed the FIR filed in this case on the Delhi Police website. According to the FIR, this incident took place on Street No. 6, Chauhan Bangar, Jafrabad, North East Delhi, on 05 May 2024, around 6:45 PM, and the name of the deceased is Nazir alias Nanhe. However, the FIR did not disclose any accused names. ‘The Quint’ contacted DCP North East Delhi, Joy Tirkey, regarding this incident. He confirmed that there is no communal angle involved in this incident. He stated that, up to now, five accused have been arrested, all of whom are Muslims, and the deceased is also a Muslim.

FIR copy (ETV Bharat)

Recently, in April 2024, another man was murdered in Seelampur, Delhi. According to news reports (here, here, & here), Shahnawaz, a 35-year-old man, was shot in the head by a minor boy in broad daylight on 12 April 2024, in Delhi’s Seelampur, in the E block of Khabri market. The assailant, a minor boy, was apprehended two days after the murder. Three other suspects were identified as Rehan (single name), Salman Faizan, and Shoaib Mastan. According to the police, the two men, along with a 16-year-old juvenile, were budding gangsters who shot Mohammad Shahnawaz after he refused to pay them protection money. FIR filed in this case can be seen here.

FIR copy (ETV Bharat)

We contacted the SHO of Seelampur regarding this incident. He confirmed that there is no communal angle involved. He stated that all the accused, including the minor, are Muslims, and the deceased is also a Muslim.

To sum up, a video of a murder in Delhi’s Jafrabad is being shared with a false communal narrative amid the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Claim: Video of a murder in Delhi’s Jafrabad shared with communal narrative amid the 2024 Lok Sabha elections Claimed By: Social media posts Fact Check: False

Note: This story was first published in Factly as part of Shakti Collective and has been republished by ETV Bharat.