Fact Check: False Communal Spin Given To Video Of Uttarakhand Man Tearing Bike Seat Covers
The man in the viral video is a coaching centre owner, who tore bike seat covers of parked vehicles in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, over a parking dispute in August 2024.
- CLAIM: Video shows Mohammad Junaid tearing the seat covers of vehicles parked on the roadside to boost the business of his bike cover and puncture shop.
- FACT CHECK: The man in the video is Dheeraj Aggarrwal, who was caught tearing bike seat covers in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, due to a parking dispute in August 2024. Aggarrwal runs a coaching centre near the spot where the video was shot.
An old video of a man using a blade to tear seat covers of parked vehicles in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, has surfaced with false communal claims that a Muslim man damaged the vehicles to boost his puncture and seat cover business. BOOM found that the man in the viral video is Dheeraj Aggarrwal who was caught tearing bike covers due to a parking dispute. We spoke to Aggarwal, who runs a coaching centre near the spot where the video was shot; He told BOOM that he vandalised the seats as he was upset with people parking their vehicles there. Below is a screenshot of an X post.
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FACT CHECK: False communal claim added to incident
Taking a hint from the logo of ‘Uttrakhand Exclusive’ in the viral video, we found the Facebook and Instagram page of this handle. BOOM then reached out to the admin of the page — Gaurav Wasudev who stated that the viral video was uploaded on his page in August 2024, which was later deleted. Wasudev told BOOM, “The incident in this video is from Dobhal Chowk in Nehru gram area in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The person in the video is a teacher named Dheeraj Aggarrwal.”
BOOM then reached out to Dheeraj Aggarrwal who confirmed that he is the man in the viral video. Aggarrwal stated that he runs a coaching centre in Dehradun near the spot where the incident took place and the video is from a public parking near his coaching centre. Aggarrwal told BOOM, “This happened on August 5, 2024. Someone made a video of me damaging seats of two-wheelers and circulated it on social media. People would park their vehicles in the parking lot near our coaching centre and leave. So, to teach them a lesson I did that. When this matter reached the police on August 6, the police rebuked me for this act but no case was registered,” added Aggarrwal. He further added that the video is being shared misidentifying him as one ‘Mohammad Junaid’ to spread communal tensions.
BOOM reached out to Raipur Police, Dehradun, Uttarakhand who confirmed the incident is from there and also dismissed the communal claims being shared on social media. Station Officer Pradeep Negi told BOOM, “This is a case from August 2024, the coaching centre operator had a problem with people parking their vehicles there. That’s why he did this. However, no FIR was registered in this case.”
This story was originally published by Boom, as part of the Shakti Collective. Except for the headline and excerpt, this story has not been edited by ABP LIVE staff.
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