A CCTV video of a man being shot at point-blank range is going viral on social media. The video is being shared with the claim that a Muslim killed a Hindu man in front of his children in Meerut. In this article, we fact-check the accuracy of this claim.
Claim: A Hindu man was shot dead by a Muslim in front of his children in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh after the I.N.D.I.A. bloc won majority seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Fact: The incident is the result of an old rivalry. Both the accused and the victim are from the same community, indicating no communal angle in the incident. Additionally, the police have verified this information. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The visuals do show a man being shot at point-blank range in front of his children. However, there is no communal aspect to the incident, as both the victim and the accused are of the same religion.
A keyword search on Google led to multiple news reports covering the incident. According to these reports, Arshad, a cloth merchant from Zaidi Farm, was killed in front of his two children in the Lohia Nagar police station area in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The victim, who had a criminal history, was allegedly shot dead by another criminal.
The police identified the suspect as Bilal, also with a criminal record. Arshad and Bilal had an argument that escalated, leading Bilal to shoot Arshad. The incident is believed to be the result of an old rivalry. Multiple news reports have covered the incident, identifying the victim and the accused as Arshad and Bilal (here & here). Their names suggest they belong to the same community, and none of the reports indicated any communal angle to the incident.
Furthermore, the Meerut police confirmed to Vishwas news that there is no communal angle to the incident. Both parties involved belong to the same community and have a history of criminal activity. The Meerut Police also confirmed this in a post on X.
To sum up, this instance of a father being shot in front of his children does not involve any communal angle.
