Was the stampede at Maha Kumbh caused by youths shouting slogans of 'Akhilesh Yadav Zindabad'?

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After the stampede during the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, a collage of two video clips is present on social media. In one clip, some youths are shouting slogans of 'Akhilesh Yadav Zindabad'. Whereas, in the second clip, a Maharaj ji is saying that the stampede has occurred due to some youths.

30 people died and 60 were injured in the stampede that took place on 29 January during the ongoing Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, UP. No concrete claim has been made yet about the reason for the stampede. The matter is under investigation. Meanwhile, a collage of two video clips is viral on social media. In one clip, some youths are raising slogans of 'Akhilesh Yadav Zindabad'. At the same time, in the second clip, Lallantop journalist Abhinav Pandey, present in Prayagraj, is talking to a Maharaj ji. He says, "Actually, a bus had stopped from which some young people came out and they came here and caused a stampede."  

Now, by combining these two videos, some users are saying that 'the stampede occurred only after these youths started sloganeering'. 

A user named Osin Jain shared the viral video and wrote, "According to eyewitnesses, some people got down from a bus and created a stampede. And you can see in the second video how they are shouting 'Akhilesh Yadav' as if they have come to a rally. Is this video before the stampede? The police and administration should investigate from this angle."


A user named Professor Sudhanshu Trivedi shared the video and wrote, "This video is from Maha Kumbh Prayagraj. People are pushing each other while shouting slogans like 'Akhilesh Yadav Zindabad'. Is this video before the stampede? Why are they shouting these slogans? This is a pilgrimage site. Is it a political rally?"

Screenshot of the viral video.

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Similarly, many other users have also shared the viral video, whose posts you can see here. Some people have even called these youths the conspirators of the stampede and demanded punishment for them. 

Investigation

Did the stampede in Prayagraj happen due to the sloganeering youths? Where is the video of the sloganeering youths from?

To find this out, we looked at some comments on the viral video. There, a user has uploaded a screenshot. In this, an Instagram profile of Pradeep Yadav, a resident of Raebareli, was found. The viral video is present on this profile.

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Screenshot of the video on Pradeep Yadav's Instagram account.

We contacted Pradeep Yadav to know the truth. He told us that the viral video was actually from the dawn of 27 January. Pradeep said,

“I had reached Prayagraj Maha Kumbh on 26th January with some of my friends. There, on the night of the 26th, some youths were shouting slogans of 'Yogi Modi Zindabad' in front of us. So we friends also shouted slogans of 'Akhilesh Yadav Zindabad'.”

Pradeep said that this video was recorded 48 hours before the stampede on January 28. He sent us the metadata of the phone from which the sloganeering video was recorded. According to this, the time of recording the video is 5:25 am on January 27.

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Details of recording of the original video. (Credit: Pradeep Yadav)

Apart from this, Pradeep also sent us the Instagram profile of his friend Virendra Yadav. In this, the video with 'Akhilesh Yadav Zindabad' was uploaded on January 27.

Screenshot of Virendra Yadav's profile.

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It is clear from this that the video of sloganeering was present on social media about 40 hours before the stampede in Prayagraj in the early hours of January 29. That is, the video is not from just before the stampede. This incident happened more than a day after the sloganeering. At the same time, Maharaj ji is talking to the Lallantop team about some other youths.

Outcome

Overall, our investigation clearly shows that a misleading claim is being shared by linking two different videos to the stampede in Prayagraj.

PC:The Lallantop