By Archis Chowdhury
Following the assassination of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj in front of police and media personnel, video recordings of the event showed the assassins chanting slogans of "Jai Shri Ram", while being apprehended by the police.
Social media was soon rife with users claiming that the footage showing the slogans being raised are fake, and that no such slogans were raised. The claims also added that this was confirmed by witnessing police officers and media personnel.
BOOM found these claims to be false; we watched several video recordings, including those done by journalists and media outlets, and found that the assassins had indeed chanted slogans of "Jai Shri Ram".
While being escorted to a medical check-up by the police, Ahmed and his brother were shot dead by three assassins, while they were speaking to media personnel. The event was therefore broadcast on live television.
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As questions were being raised on the slogans being chanted following the assassination, Shashi Kumar, a Bharatiya Janata Party member in Uttar Pradesh, wrote on Twitter, "One video of Atique shoot out is circulated with Jai Shri Ram slogans. Beware it’s fake and dubbed. It’s refuted by Police and media personnel present there. Few initials video also proves this." (sic.)
Click here to view an archive of the above tweet.
Using a keyword search, several other users were also found sharing the exact same claim.
Click here and here to view archives of the above tweets.
We also found the same claim being shared on Facebook.
Fact Check
BOOM searched for news reports on Ahmed's assassination and found several articles that mentioned "Jai Shri Ram" slogans being raised.
Times Now headlined one of their reports on this incident as, "Atiq Ahmed’s Attackers Posed As Journalists, Shouted Jai Shri Ram Slogans: Killers Identity Revealed."
A report by Hindustan Times mentioned, "In the shocking videos of attackers that surfaced online, the killers can be heard shouting slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” after killing Atiq and his brother."
Hindustan Times also put out a video report on YouTube containing footage from the assassination where "Jai Shri Ram" slogans can be clearly heard. Hindustan Times further confirm this with captions in the video.
Looking for more footage in the incident, we found another video from the event posted by journalist Sachin Gupta, where "Jai Shri Ram" slogans can be heard as well. Gupta writes in the caption, "After killing Ahmed and Ashraf, the accused raised slogans of "Jai Shri Ram", and surrendered with their hands raised."
Gupta posted another video, which showed the moments right after the assassination, with the police apprehending the assassins. In this video, the assassins can be clearly heard shouting "Jai Shri Ram", while surrendering to the police. Gupta quotes the accused in the caption as, "We are surrendering... Jai Shri Ram."
BOOM also found a live recording by media outlet News18 Uttar Pradesh, which was uploaded on the channel's verified Facebook handle. In the footage, "Jai Shri Ram" slogans can be heard immediately after the shooting ends.
BOOM spoke to Deepak Bhuker, Superintendent of Police, who neither confirmed, nor denied that the slogans were raised. "We do not clearly know whether such slogans were raised or not," he told BOOM.
Witness Statements On Slogans Censored By UP Tak
BOOM also found a video by news portal UP Tak, where the reporter speaks to witnesses. We found on the witnesses describe the assassination, while including that certain slogans were raised by the assassins.
However, the news outlet censored the part where the witness talks about the slogans by adding a "beep".
