Video Of Cow Vigilante Arrested For Extortion In UP Shared With A False Claim

A video of an older man in the attire of a saint is viral on social media. The man making the video asks a few questions to the older man, who is handcuffed, tied to a rope, and is sitting beside a police officer. The video is shared claiming that the saint is a cow vigilante Garibdas, who the Rajasthan police have arrested under false accusations of extortion put by the cow smugglers. While sharing the video, the netizens are criticizing Ashok Gehlot led Congress government for "harassing Hindu saints".

Facebook user Haripal Singh Nauhwar while sharing this video wrote a Hindi caption that reads, "राजस्थान में एक संत ने गौ तस्करों के खिलाफ अभियान छोड़ा गौ तस्करों ने उनके ऊपर ही वसूली का केस करवा दिया। यहां तक तो ठीक था यह जांच का विषय है की कौन सही कौन गलत लेकिन 80 साल के बुजुर्ग हिंदू संत को इस तरह से हथकड़ी पहनाकर लाना क्या उचित है ??? क्या यह पुलिसकर्मी में इतनी हिम्मत होगी कि वह किसी मौलवी को यू हथकड़ी डाल कर लाएगा ?? दरअसल जब अशोक गहलोत मुख्यमंत्री है तब हिंदुओं का ऐसे ही अपमान होगा कोई भी व्यक्ति एंग्री रिएक्शन नहीं करेगा पोस्ट पर।"

[English Translation: In Rajasthan, a saint launched a campaign against cow smugglers, who in return got an extortion case filed against him. Till this was understandable, and it is a matter of investigation of who is right and wrong. But is it not inappropriate to bring an 80-year-old Hindu saint in handcuffs like this??? Will this policeman have the courage to get an Islamic cleric handcuffed?? As, now Ashok Gehlot is the Chief Minister, which is why Hindus are being insulted like this. No person will leave an angry reaction on the post]

It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter.

Claim:

Cow vigilante Garibdas was arrested in a false extortion case by Rajasthan Police.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the claim and found it to be false.

While going through viral posts, we noticed a post by a Facebook user named Achariya Mumukshu Krishna Shastri where he specifically mentioned the name "महंत बाबा गरीबदास". Taking this name as a hint, we did a google search with certain keywords, which led us to a report of Live Hindustan dated 01 September 2021. The headline of the report reads in Hindi, "गो रक्षा संघर्ष समिति के जिला अध्यक्ष सहित तीन पर मुकदमा."

[English Translation: Case against three including the district president of Go Raksha Sangharsh Samiti]

According to the report, Garibdas, a resident of village Khandwa, Badaun district, Uttar Pradesh and Om Prakash and Satyapal resident of Gopalpur, are accused of a case filed by village Ikhkheda residents. It is alleged that these three people demanded five thousand from the Rajasthani shepherds for taking the cows out of the area. Angry with this incident, a dozen people, including the village head, reached the police station and filed a complaint against Garibdas and others.

Fact-Checking website Alt News contacted the SHO of Ughaiti to know the further details of this incident. While dismissing the claims of the viral post, SHO told Alt news that a group of Rajasthani people were actually transporting cows, bulls, and donkeys from Ikhkheda village, UP. That's when Garibdas and two others stopped their vehicle. The locals then filed a complaint against Garibdas and his friends for extortion. The SHO also said that similar accusations were levelled against Garibdas in the past as well. He is currently under arrest, and the investigation is going on.

Our investigation shows that Uttar Pradesh police arrested cow vigilante Garibas and others for extortion, and it is shared with a false claim that Rajasthan Police arrested a Gaurakshak on false charges under congress led Ashok Gehlot government.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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