Police action has been initiated against seven X (formerly Twitter) accounts that posted a video from Nepal claiming that it is from the ‘Mahakumbh of death’.
The video is accompanied by text which alleges that one family lost three members and were unable to get an ambulance to get to the morgue. The dead were being carried in the arms of their family members. The post says that the least that the police can do is to provide help to get the deceased home.
The Kumbh Mela Police on its X account has labelled the video as fake. It is from an incident in Nepal.
Seven accounts: Brajesh Kumar Prajapati (@brajeshkmpraja); Rajjan Shakya (@RAJJANS206251); Ashfaq Khan (@AshfaqK12565342); Satyaprakash Nagar (@Satyapr78049500); Priyanka Maurya (@Priyank232332); Akash singh Bharat (@Akashsinghjatav), Abhimanyu Singh Journalist (@Abhimanyu1305) have been identified by the police. Cases have been registered against them at the Kotwali of the Mahakumbh Nagar.
Another video posted from an Instagram account of one Tiger Yadav shows dramatic shots of the bodies of the being immersed in the river in the Kumbh Mela. One person is heard as saying that the kidneys of those who are still breathing should be removed then their bodies should be immersed in the river.
The police has said that an effort is being made to tarnish the image of the Uttar Pradesh government and spread hatred against the government in the minds of the general public.
In response to the police post about the fake video, users have pointed out other fake news doing the rounds. This includes a claim by a family in Azamgarh that they saw ‘at least’ 150-200 dead bodies. This news has been circulated by a local Hindi news channel.
Some people have also used the post to make a political point by commenting that such would never have happened during the rule of the Samajwadi Party.
