[Screenshot of the Facebook post]
A fact check analysis of a video and images going viral on different social media platforms claiming that Muslims pelted stones on Special Train to Maha Kumbh found it to be false.
Videos and images are shared claiming that Muslims pelted stones on a Special Train from Jhansi to Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj.
A fact check analysis of the video viral on different social media platforms claiming that Muslims pelted stones on Special Train to Maha Kumbh found it to be false.
The images from the video were shared on Facebook with the caption:
"Islamic Jihadi pigs pelted stones on a train going to Kumbh Mela. Train windows were broken… #Rail #UttarPradesh #MahakumbhMela2025" (Translated from Kannada)
The same post has also been shared by other social media users with similar claim.
Newsmeter after Fact Check Analysis found that these claims are false. The fact checker found that the train was indeed attacked, but not by Muslims and there is no communal angle to the incident as claimed.
Using a keyword search, Newsmeter found a report published by NDTV on January 28, 2025. The report has shared the viral video, with the headline:
"Passengers Throw Stones At Maha Kumbh Special Train On Finding Doors Locked".
The report stated:
“According to reports, many people were waiting at Harpalpur -- about two hour journey from Jhansi -- to board the train. But they found the doors locked when they tried to get on the train. The agitated passengers turned violent and started throwing stones at the compartments.”
The Times of India also used the same viral video and published a report on January 28, 2025, titled 'Overcrowded train to Maha Kumbh vandalized in Madhya Pradesh’.
The TOI in its report said:
"There were 7,000-8,000 people on the platform. The train that arrived was already crowded. Some passengers started throwing stones. We rushed to the spot and controlled the situation. The mob was dispersed. It took around an hour to manage the situation, after which the train safely departed, Harpalpur police station in-charge Pushpak Sharma told TΟΙ.”
Several other news media outlets too published stories that passengers pelted stones as the doors of the Maha Kumbh Special train did not open at Harpalpur railway station.
Hence it is clear that the viral video does not show a communal attack on the train bound for Maha Kumbh.
The people seen throwing stones were frustrated passengers who had been waiting for the train and reacted angrily when its doors remained locked. There is no communal angle to this incident.
[This story was originally published by Newsmeter, and republished with slight edit by ummid.com as part of the Shakti Collective.]
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