A video is being shared on social media claiming it as visuals of a Rajasthan policeman faking a head injury by tying a blood-stained handkerchief on his forehead during the Jodhpur riots. This post claims that newspapers too have misled people by publishing the fake injury photos of this policeman. In the wake of the recent communal riots that took place in Jodhpur on Eid, this video is being shared on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a Rajasthan Policeman faking a head injury during the Jodhpur communal riots.
Fact: During the communal riots that broke out in Jodhpur on Eid, Jodhpur ASI Dhanaaram did sustain a head injury when a stone hit his head. Jodhpur Police tweeted a few photographs showing clear visuals of the injuries on ASI Dhanaaram’s face and clarified that he had suffered a head injury during the clashes. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched with relevant keywords, we found the same photo of an injured policeman in articles published by several media outlets. They can be seen here and here. All these news articles reported it as the visuals of a policeman injured during the Jodhpur clashes.
On searching for further details, we found that Jodhpur Police had made a tweet on 06 May 2022 and issued a clarification regarding the viral claims circulating about this incident. Jodhpur Police through the tweet clarified that Jodhpur ASI Dhanaaram did sustain a head injury during the Jodhpur communal clashes. Jodhpur Police shared a few other pictures in their tweet showing clear visuals of injuries on ASI Dhanaaram’s face & forehead. Jodhpur Police informed that the policeman was immediately taken to the hospital after the incident and that an FIR was filed against the attack at the Sardarpura police station in Jodhpur.
The ‘BOOM’ fact-checking team had contacted ASI Dhanaaram for more clarification regarding the viral claims circulating about his head injury. Speaking to the ‘BOOM’, ASI Dhanaaram said, “I cleaned my face with the handkerchief before tying it on my forehead. In the video, there’s no blood on my face but blood can be seen on the handkerchief and my hand. I had received a head injury”. ASI Dhanaaram had also shared a few other pictures with ‘BOOM’ that clearly show the injury mark on his head.
Image credits- ‘BOOM’
To sum it up, the Rajasthan cop in the video did not fake a head injury during the Jodhpur clashes.
