Days after one Ram Gopal Mishra was shot dead in the Bahraich violence, anchor Sudhir Chaudhary detailed a “postmortem of hate” – purportedly riddled with misinformation – on his show Black and White on AajTak on Wednesday.

Chaudhary claimed to have the details of Mishra’s postmortem report, and asserted that his nails were pulled out, he was bruised by swords, shot at more than 25 times, and even given an electric shock.      

But the social media cell of the Bahraich Police rejected these claims, saying that it is “misleading”. A statement issued by the police did not mention Chaudhary but said that such rumours are doing the rounds on social media with the aim of disturbing communal harmony. The police also warned of legal action against those spreading misinformation. 

“Misleading information such as giving electric shock to the deceased, hitting with a sword, and pulling out nails, etc, is being spread on social media with the aim of disturbing communal harmony, which has no truth.” 

Chaudhary, who seemed to be onto a targeted tirade, made communal remarks and suggested that such brutality is expected to be inflicted on the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh but has happened in India instead. He then claimed that people on social media are justifying Mishra’s murder that came after escalated communal tensions during a Durga idol procession.

The anchor said, “Ab uss ladke ke postmortem report mein bahot chaukane wale khulase hue hain… Hatyaron ne iss ladke ki hatya se pehle bahot bhayanak yatnaye di thi, bahot torture kiya tha, bahot hi nirmam tarike se hatya ki gayi… sochiye kalpana kijiye, kisi ke nakhun kheech kar nikal diye jaye toh dard ki kalpana aap kar sakte hain… (Now, many shocking details have emerged in the postmortem report. The murderers did it with a lot of brutality and tortured him a lot. Think about it. Imagine how much it will hurt if someone’s nails are pulled out.)”      

On October 13, after a heated argument over the music being played during the procession, Mishra had allegedly climbed onto the roof of the house of one Abdul Hameed, took down a green flag that was hoisted there, and raised a saffron flag, cheered by the crowd. Hameed allegedly shot at Mishra.   

Chaudhary said: “Usnke mann mein kitni nafrat rahi hogi, unke mann mein kitni ghrina rahi hogi. Aur ek baar ke liye aapko lagega ki shayad ye ghatna Bharat mein nahi, shayad ye Bangladesh mein kisi alpasankhyak Hindu ladke ke sath hui hain… Aur iss waqt social media par kayi log ye kehte hue iss hatya ko sahi thehra rahe hain ki isne ek makaan par lage ek hare jhande, jisse shayad Islamic jhanda bataya ja raha hain, ko hata kar Musalmanon ki bhawnao ko thes pahunchayi thi. Ek video dikhaya ja raha hain jismein wo aisa kar bhi raha hain.”    

Loosely translated: “How much hatred must have been in their minds. And for a moment you will feel maybe this incident did not happen in India and happened with some minority Hindu boy in Bangladesh… And at this time, many people on social media are justifying this murder, saying he replaced a green flag, which is being described as Islamic, and hurt the sentiments of Muslims. A video is being shown in which he is also doing this.”

Chaudhary not alone in making misleading claims  

The anchor then again repeated the details of the tortures that he claimed were inflicted upon Mishra. Besides Chaudhary, reports in OpIndia and Jagran also made similar claims. Reports in News18 and the Times of India quoted Mishra’s family as saying that he was tortured, but they did not cite the postmortem report. 

Jagran’s report went a step ahead and claimed that Mishra’s murder was premeditated. It said that Mishra was dragged into a house, brutally beaten, and his nails were pulled out before he was shot dead and the sequence of events makes it clear that the “script of Mishra’s death was written in advance”.             

It said in Hindi: “Suniyojit tarike se logon ko dhaar dar hathiyar aur lathi-dandon ke sath bulaya gaya tha. Saazish ke tahat shradhaluon par pathrav kiya gaya. (The violence in Maharajganj did not erupt suddenly. Preparations were made for this beforehand. In a planned manner, people were called beforehand with sharp weapons and sticks).”

The report in OpIndia said that “while reports indicate torture on Ram Gopal Mishra, police deny claims”. It did not cite the postmortem report as its source, but the news reports of Jagran and News18.