A video shared on YouTube by a channel named 'BNR News Reporter Honey', and forwarded by multiple users online, showed a Bihar-based labourers being brutally beaten up in Tamil Nadu. The video rolled out with a description that it was "imaginary" content, but no sooner it became viral for allegedly spreading misinformation online.
Watch Video:
About four minutes into the footage, one of two individuals seen in the video was caught on camera laughing amidst the talk on the serious topic of being thrashed and beaten up, and this aspect from the YouTube video questioned its authenticity for those who didn't read the video description.
YouTube video was uploaded with THIS disclaimer
Disclaimer - This Video is inspired my Real Videos of Famous Digital News channels. We have created an imaginary content which is based on Viral Videos. Our only motive to give you knowledge and information about Viral Videos in an imaginary way. Do Not Take it Seriously .
This YouTube video was also shared by Manish Kasyap, a man who has recently gone viral for voicing out for the Biharis in Tamil Nadu, with no details about the video being unreal.
Sharing it on Twitter and Instagram, he tried to draw the attention of Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and wrote, "Tejashwi Yadav ji, look at these visuals, there are wounds on the faces of the labourers... Talk once to the media (YouTube channel) who reported this and it maybe that you are lying and the laborers are really in trouble in Tamil Nadu. (translated)"
Check tweet
FIR against Manish Kasyap
Manish Kasyap, known online as 'Son of Bihar' uploaded the (staged) video on his social media pages and tried to draw the attention of Tejashwi Yadav. Apart from the viral video, Kasyap has released many videos and hosted Facebook live sessions to address the concerning issue believed to be true about the treatment of Tamil Nadu towards Biharis. However, he claimed that his take landed him in getting an FIR against him.
In an update, Kasyap shared a video post on Facebook to hint that an FIR was filed against him in this regard. He hosted a Facebook live to say, "Jai Hind. Apne aap ko gareebon ka neta batane wale Tejaswi Yadav ji ko majdooron ke liye mera awaaz utaana pasand nahi hai. Isliye Bihar Police ne mere upar FIR kiya hai - ye jaankari social media par mila hai. (Jai Hind. Tejashwi Yadav, who portrays to be the leader of underprivileged, didn't like me standing up for the labourers. And thus, Bihar Police have filed an FIR against me, as I am getting to know via social media.)"
WATCH:
Kasyap's take on the videos
In the Facebook live, Kasyap agreed that he had created the videos showing the injustice towards Bihar-based migrant labourers in the southern state. He says that he created the initial video on March 1, and later continued to release videos on the topic.
"I have not used any footage that shows fights (maar-peet), nor have I told anything ill about the people of Tamil Nadu. I have nothing to do with TN, I have voiced for the Bihari labourers."
Later, he tried to prove his side with the help of published news reports and tweets from verified individuals that highlighted the issue of violence that migrants had to undergo.
The first video uploaded by 'Son of Bihar'
Here's what Tamil Nadu Police have to say
Tamil Nadu Police replied to Manish Kasyap on Twitter and let him know that the footage he shared was staged and scripted. He had allegedly become a part of spreading fake news on the digital platform. "Please verify the fact and tweet," the police team said and clarified that the incident did not happen in Tamil Nadu. They also reinforced that the video was "purely a scripted one."
Check tweet
Similar video went viral in the recent past, accused arrested
A man named Manoj Yadav was identified and taken into custody after probe by TN police found he created and shared online a video for gaining popularity and to create unrest among the migrant workers.
Bihar delegation quashes rumours of attacks on migrants
A Bihar government delegation visiting Tamil Nadu has confirmed that viral videos claiming Bihari migrants were being targeted in the southern state were fake and there was a deliberate attempt to spread enmity.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Balamurugan D, Secretary of Rural Development Department in Bihar, who was leading the delegation, said, "Few videos circulated through WhatsApp & other social media platforms with a message that these incidents (alleged attacks) happened with Bihari labourers - that news is fake. That has been confirmed, verified."
The delegation comprised of the Inspector General, Crime Investigation Department, P Kannan, Special Secretary of Labour Resources, and Superintendent of Police of Special Task Force, Santosh Kumar.
CM Stalin condemned the fake news
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin condemned the rumours on March 4, saying that the workers were safe in the state. Tamil Nadu police have also taken action against those sharing the fake videos, arresting BJP’s Uttar Pradesh spokesperson Prashant Patel Umrao and filing cases against journalist Mohammed Tanveer and Twitter user Shubham Shukla for posting false information.
.jpg)
