Muslim Man Was Not Arrested In Manipur Viral Video Case; ANI Tweeted False News

Amidst the nation’s outrage over a disturbing video from Manipur, a misleading tweet from the news agency Asian News International (ANI) introduced a communal angle to the incident.

ANI falsely tweeted that a Muslim man named Abdul Khan was arrested in connection to the viral video of two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted in Manipur. Although ANI deleted the tweet, it had already quickly gained traction and was picked up by numerous news outlets and social media users.

This false narrative has led to the portrayal that a Muslim man was behind the heinous crime, perpetuating misinformation about the incident.

In reality, Abdul Hilim was arrested by Manipur police in connection with a different case. However, ANI falsely linked him to the Manipur gang rape incident, resulting in misinformation.

Caption – Deleted Tweet By ANI

ANI tweeted around 10 pm on 20 July that “one cadre of People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) Pro namely Md Ibungo alias Abdul Hilim (38) of Imphal East was arrested by Imphal East District Police. A total of three main accused of the heinous crime of abduction and gangrape under Nongpok Sekmai PS, Thoubal District have been arrested today: Manipur Police.”

Using this tweet, many social media users with a significant following spread the misinformation that the main accused of the Manipur case Abdul [Khan] was arrested by Manipur police.

Some of them even went further to claim that Abdul was a Rohingya Muslim from Bangladesh. Additionally, they asserted that the mob shown in the viral video consisted of Muslims from Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The same claims were also shared on Facebook. 

Tweet 1 | Tweet 2 | Tweet 3

FACT-CHECK

A shocking video emerged on 19 July, showing a large mob of men parading two naked women from the Kuki community. The mob then reportedly took them to a field where the women were allegedly gang-raped.

Although the incident depicted in the video actually occurred on 4 May, the police took action to investigate the matter only after it went viral nearly two and a half months later. CM Biren Singh announced on Thursday that the Manipur Police made the first arrest in connection with the incident.

On 20th July, the Manipur police issued a press release detailing their investigation into various cases across the state. 

In point number 2, it was mentioned that three more people were arrested in connection with the viral video incident. The arrests were made under Nongpok Sekmai police station in Thoubal district.

In point number 4, the press release mentioned that Abdul Hilim (38), a member of the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK Pro), was arrested by the Imphal East District Police. PREPAK (Pro) is one of the outfits of the state fighting to restore Manipur’s past independence. 

Fact Crescendo contacted Thoubal Superintendent of Police, Jogeshchandra Haobijam, who confirmed that these are two separate incidents. 

He also clarified that the accused, Abdul Hilim, was not arrested in connection with the viral video incident. Instead, he was apprehended by another district police for a separate case.

Manipur Police also tweeted about these two arrests in two separate tweets.

Tweet 1 | Tweet 2

Misinterpretation by ANI

ANI made a mistake in their reporting by connecting these two different incidents. In their tweet, they combined the two separate events, giving the impression that Abdul Hilim was one of the three main accused arrested in the Manipur viral video case. However, this information is not correct. 

Abdul Hilim’s arrest was unrelated to the viral video case, and he was not one of the main accused in that particular incident.

Once they have been called out for this blatant mistake, ANI deleted the tweet and put out a clarification with an apology in this regard. 

They said this mistake occurred because they misinterpreted tweets from the Manipur Police and confused them with an earlier tweet about different arrests related to the incidents shown in the viral video

Tweet

Who Is Main Accused?

On July 20, Manipur police revealed the identity of the main culprit seen holding and dragging the woman in the disturbing viral video. 

The police have identified Huirem Herodas Meitei (32) from Pechi Awang Leikai village, as the primary conspirator in the case of mob paraded women naked and subjected them to sexual assault in Manipur. 

CONCLUSION

The false tweet by ANI resulted in numerous communal claims and misinformation about the Manipur viral video case. Abdul Hilim is not one of the main accused arrested in connection to the gang rape case in Manipur. His arrest is unrelated to this specific incident.