Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor, was killed by cutting his throat in Udaipur, Rajasthan on 28^th June, 2022. After the disputable proclamation of suspended BJP representative Nupur Sharma alluding to Prophet Mohammad, Kanhaiya had posted a social media post supporting Nupur Sharma. It was hence claimed that Kanhaiya was killed by Mohammed Riaz and Ghaus Mohammed. After that the police arrested both of them. 

“Zee News” has circulated a press conference of Congress pioneer Rahul Gandhi in its show named “DNA”. Zee News anchor Rohit Ranjan has guaranteed that Rahul Gandhi supported the accuse in the Udaipur murder case by alluding to them as “little kids”. Later “Zee News” circulated the video and it turned into a web sensation. 

(Screenshot from Facebook post)

While sharing this clip of ‘Zee News’ news, many BJP leaders have claimed that Rahul Gandhi has come to the defense of the accused in the Udaipur case and is appealing to forgive them.

(Screenshot from Twitter post)

Transcript

The current atmosphere in the country has been created by the government. Prime Minister, Home Minister, BJP and RSS have created this kind of atmosphere in the country. This atmosphere is filled with anger and hatred. Having such an atmosphere in the country is in a way an anti-national act. They are children and they are wrong. Their behavior is irresponsible, but I have no anger towards them. They are children. They have no idea what the consequences of this act can be. I think they should be forgiven.

Debunked Source

https://www.facebook.com/100003890655396/videos/572550831155430/

https://twitter.com/Iyervval/status/1542953185978986497

उदयपुर के दरिंदे राहुल गांधी के लिए बच्चे है और राहुल गांधी के अनुसार क्षमा कर दिया जाना चाहिए।#DrbholaMP pic.twitter.com/WFwavLPfZs

— Dr. Bhola singh MP (@MpDrBholaSingh) July 2, 2022

https://twitter.com/SubratPathak12/status/1542928316662837248

https://twitter.com/KamleshSainiMLA/status/1542932933840777217

https://twitter.com/IamAjaySehrawat/status/1542944342926430208

Fact-check

In order to investigate the claim, we extracted key frames of the shared video and performed a reverse image search. 

Search revealed that Zee News aired an altered clip to claim that Gandhi is defending the accused in the Udaipur killing. Rahul Gandhi was talking about the people who vandalized his office at Wayanad, Kerala on 24^th June and not about the Udaipur incident. Rahul Gandhi spoke about the Wayanad case and called the accused ‘children’ who vandalized his office adding that he is not angry over their actions.

(Screenshot from ANI News YouTube channel)

Zee News anchor Rohit Ranjan was also detained for airing a misleading video triggering anger & communal rift among the general public.

(Screenshot from Business Standard website)

Later on, Rohit Ranjan shared a clarification video on his official twitter handle calling it a human error and apologized for their claim.

(Screenshot from Twitter post)

Source

https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/zee-news-rohit-ranjan-detained-for-airing-misleading-video-of-rahul-gandhi-122070500406_1.html

कल हमारे शो DNA में राहुल गांधी का बयान उदयपुर की घटना से जोड़ कर ग़लत संदर्भ में चल गया था, ये एक मानवीय भूल थी जिसके लिए हमारी टीम क्षमाप्रार्थी हैं, हम इसके लिए खेद जताते हैं pic.twitter.com/YGs7kfbKKi

— Rohit Ranjan (@irohitr) July 2, 2022

Rating

Disinformation/Propaganda

Conclusion

Our fact-check confirmed that the media outlet falsely linked Rahul’s statements to the murder of Kanhaiya Lal who was brutally murdered in Rajasthan’s Udaipur. Rival party, BJP, took advantage of the disinformation and tried to turn sentiments against Rahul Gandhi and congress party. 

ABCDE Framework-Based Analysis 

Actor	Zee News journalist and BJP leaders alongside multiple independent social media users are circulating disinformation.
Behavior	Rahul Gandhi’s statement about attack on his office was associated with accused of Kanhaiya Lal murder.
Content	Social Media posts.
Degree	The content is being spread to defame Indian National Congress and Rahul Gandhi in particular. The shared statement is not forged or inauthentic, but it is unrelated to Kanhaiya Lal’s case. Moreover, no synthetic means are being used to make the content viral, since it was shared from a well-known journalist and verified twitter accounts of BJP’s leaders it had greater reach and high engagement activity.
Effect	The shared video is being circulated to mislead the audience and portray that the Indian National Congress is a Pakistani backed party which openly supports Muslims extremists. Rahul Gandhi gathered massive hate for supporting the accused.