A video of a group of men hitting sound and lighting equipment with sticks and stones is being shared on social media. The post claimed this was an attack on Hindus and happened for the first time in Bilaspur. It also says that the terror attack on people participating in the Durga Idol immersion procession continued for half an hour. The viral post can be viewed here. Let’s fact-check the claim made in this post through this article.
Clam: The visuals show a communal attack on Hindus during the Goddess Durga Idol’s immersion procession in Bilaspur.
Fact: The video from the viral post is of an actual incident which occurred in Bilaspur on 07 October 2022. Reportedly, two Durga puja committees fought over who gets to go first for the immersion. The viral post falsely claims this event as a communal attack on the Hindus, while in reality, both the groups that fought were Hindus. The same can be verified from the names mentioned in an F.I.R registered by the police. Hence, the claim made in this post is MISLEADING.
Searching the internet with relevant keywords led us to multiple news reports about a fight that broke out in Bilaspur over the Durga idol immersion. The video linked in these news articles is the same as the viral video. According to the Times Now, members of two Durga Puja committees fought over who would go first for the immersion. This happened on 07 October 2022 in Bilaspur’s Sadar Bazar.
The police took the groups into custody, and interrogation was on. Factly downloaded the F.I.R copy related to the incident in which we noticed that the names of both the accused and the complainant indicate that they are Hindus.
A few other news reports on this incident can be read here, here and here. News agency ANI has also tweeted the video along with a statement from the police, which can be read here. This evidence indicates that a scuffle which erupted between two Hindu groups is being passed off as a terror attack on the Hindus in the viral post.
To sum up, a video of a clash between two Hindu groups over Durga idol immersion is shared with a communal angle.
