Fake report, old videos fuelled ‘Tamils attacking migrants’ fire

Thirteen individuals, all in their twenties, have been charged and arrested in this case.

• Written by Arun Janardhanan
• Chennai | Updated: March 8, 2023 08:11 AM IST
2 min read

Bihar Rural Development Secretary Balamurugan and SP, special task force, Santosh Kumar, with migrant workers from Bihar in Chennai on Tuesday. (ANI)

A fictitious report about 12 labourers from Bihar being hanged and two old videos of clashes falsely attributed as Tamils attacking Hindi-speaking migrant workers in Tamil Nadu were widely shared on social media as proof during the recent controversy.

The Indian Express was able to access the details about the two videos in question. The first video was from Tirupur and it was not a fight between Tamils and North Indian migrant workers, but a fight between two non-Tamil men. The fight broke out at the Nesavalar colony close to Tirumalai at about 8.30 pm on February 19. Pawan Yadav, 27, from Bihar, was killed in the fight and one Upendradhari, 50, of Jharkhand, was detained for the crime.

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Read | Tamil Nadu DGP says videos of attacks on migrants ‘fake’ after Bihar CM expresses concern

The second clash video was from Coimbatore and the incident happened on February 13, 2023. The video resurfaced again on March 2 with false claims that it was an attack by Tamils on Hindi-speaking people. In fact, it was a clash between two local gangs.

Workers from Bihar and Jharkhand at a construction site near Guindy, Chennai. (Express photo by Arun Janardhanan)

In the video, assailants armed with sickles and swords killed one Gokul, an accused in the murder of another gang leader Sriram aka Kurangu Sriram. Gokul had come to sign some papers in the Coimbatore Judicial Magistrate court when the incident occurred. After signing the papers, Gokul was having tea at a nearby tea stall when five assailants attacked him. According to the police report, Gokul had died at the scene while his friend Manoj also suffered injuries when he tried to intervene.

Thirteen individuals, all in their twenties, have been charged and arrested in this case.