A video clip is being widely shared on social media platforms. The clip shows a police officer making use of a microphone to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ right in front of a mosque. This video is accompanied by the claim that the incident occurred in Patna as a reaction to an alleged stone-pelting event during a Ganesh Chaturthi procession. This article aims to dissect this claim and bring forth the actual facts of the matter.
Claim: Video of a policeman raising religious slogans in Patna following an incident during a Ganesh Chaturthi procession.
Fact: The incident took place in Hathua, located in Bihar’s Gopalganj district, not in Patna. According to the Bihar police SDPO Anurag Kumar, the policeman seen in the video, raised the ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans during a clash at a ‘Mahavir Julus’ procession to control a clash that erupted between two communities. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
To unravel the truth behind this viral video, we took to the internet. First, we carried out a keyword search, which led us to news reports (here, here, and here) featuring screenshots from the same video. These reports clarified that the incident took place in Hathua, a locality in the Gopalganj district of Bihar, not in Patna.
According to these reports, the incident happened on 1 October 2023, during a ‘Mahavir Julus’ religious procession in Hathua village. A conflict arose between two communities near a mosque in the Chiktoli area, leading to a stone-pelting event. The officer seen in the video is Anurag Kumar, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Hathua. The Superintendent of Police, Gopalganj, Swarn Prabhat, clarified (here and here) the intention behind Anurag Kumar raising these slogans. He explained that the SDPO used this method to steer the crowd away from the mosque and regain control over the situation.
Furthermore, we found a press release from Gopalganj police posted on Twitter. In this release, they mentioned the circumstances & reasons behind the police officer chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’. As per the police, he resorted to raising these slogans to control the volatile situation. The press note also stated that it is inappropriate to raise religious slogans while in police uniform and assured that the entire incident will be thoroughly investigated.
In another press release, the Gopalganj police said that they have registered cases against 52 persons, out of which 18 were sent to jail as of 3 October 2023. They said that the situation was peaceful. You can find the FIR copies related to this incident here.
Additionally, we searched the internet with relevant keywords to find details about the alleged stone pelting incident in Patna during the Ganesh Chathurthi procession. This search did not lead to any credible information that supports this claim.
To sum up, the policeman seen shouting religious slogans in the viral video is not from Patna, as claimed, but from Hathua, Gopalganj district in Bihar.
