On Monday, January 8, Mahesh Panchal, brother of the Hindu activist Bittu Bajrangi passed away in AIIMS Delhi. He had been battling for his life for over a month after assailants poured thinner on him in Dabua Colony of Faridabad, Haryana and set him on fire. The incident happened on December 13th last year.
Within hours, Mahesh Panchal was rushed to the hospital in a critical condition. He had sustained severe burn injuries which were estimated to be around 60%.
According to media sources, the attackers initially confirmed Bittu Bajrangi’s brother Mahesh Panchal’s identification. ‘Are you Bittu Bajrangi’s brother?’ they asked Mahesh Panchal. When Mahesh answered yes to this inquiry, they poured thinner on him and lit him on fire. Mahesh dived into a drain right away to douse the fire and walked to his house since no one came to help him. When Mahesh eventually arrived home, Bittu Bajrangi took him to the hospital.
While Mahesh Panchal was battling for his life with 60 per cent burns on his body, the leftist media houses and the usual set of Islamists and liberals had gone to peddle blatant lies regarding the attack on the Hindu activist’s brother.
A week after the assault, the Hindustan Times published an article where it claimed that Mahesh Panchal had faked the assault on himself. The article authored by Leena Dhankhar was titled: “Cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi’s brother faked assault: Police” quoted the Faridabad police as saying that he had suffered burns after allegedly falling into a bonfire and that there was no proof to suggest that his injuries were sustained in a murder attempt.
The report quoted senior police officers to claim that Mahesh and Bittu Bajrangi lodged a “false complaint” to frame a suspected cow smuggler.
The Hindustan Times report got the ball rolling for several like-minded leftist media outlets and the usual coteries of liberals and Islamists. “‘Bittu Bajrangi’s brother lied to police got burned falling in a bonfire'”, read the report published by The Wire.
Ultra-leftist news portal ThePrint also published a report on similar lines where it accused Mahesh Panchal and his brother Bittu Bajrangi of faking the assault. The report was headlined: ‘Bittu Bajrangi’s brother lied to police, got burned falling in a bonfire’.
‘Fact-checking’ website Alt News’ out on bail co-founder Mohammed Zubair had jumped at the opportunity. As soon as the HT report was out claiming that Bittu Bajrangi’s brother faked the assault, Zubair shared the information widely on social media and propagated it as truth.
In fact, Zubair published multiple posts on social media against Bittu Bajrangi and his brother since the fake news was published by the Hindustan Times. In a post on X, he wrote, “Cow vigilante #BittuBajrangi’s brother faked assault: Police.” He shared the link to the HT report in the post. However, the “fact checker” did not care to confirm if Faridabad Police gave any such statement or not.
Zubair had gone as far as raising fingers at OpIndia’s coverage of the assault on Mahesh Panchal where we reported how a mob led by one Armaan had attacked Mahesh Panchal after confirming that he was the brother of the Hindu activist Bittu Bajrangi, who was hounded by Islamists during Nuh violence.
However, the police officials investigating the matter had rubbished HT’s report. While talking to OpIndia, the Faridabad Police denied the claims in the HT report. When informed about the HT report, ACP Faridabad asked who in the force had declared this case fake.
He said that it is true that no evidence has been found against the accused in this case so far, but it does not mean that the case is said to be fake. He has confirmed that Bittu Bajrangi’s brother has been burnt.
He said that it is a matter of investigation as to how he got burnt, who burnt him and for what reason. He said that till now no one has been given a clean chit nor has the investigation ended, but the investigation is still going on.
Moreover, on Sunday (24th December), the president of Gau Raksha Bajrang Force, Bittu Bajrangi, released a video accusing Alt News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair and Hindustan Times (HT) of peddling a fake story against his brother.
In his video statement, Bittu Bajrangi said, “I am facing a painful phase of conspiracy against me. Me and my family are the target of anti-social elements. Hindustan Times and Mohammed Zubair took advantage of my silence. They made false reports viral against me. The reporter who wrote the report has a communist mindset. However, in the end, she is my sister. It’s okay, sister.”
He emphasised, “The day you become a victim of Love Jihad or conspiracy-like Nikita Tomar, Bittu Bajrangi will stand with you as well. I am now coming to Mohammed Zubair, who is spreading fake news against me, though Faridabad Police have not released any statement. I will file a case against him in Faridabad. He will be questioned as per the law about the fake news he published. I will take legal action against those who published the fake news. Mohammed Zubair, a communist, is spreading fake news against me. The administration should take action against him.”
#वामपंथी मोहम्मद जुबेर ने जो हिंदुस्तान टाइम्स का पत्रकार है वह बिगर जांच परख के मेरे बारे में फालतू बातें छाप कर गलत खबरें वह गलत अफवाह फैला रहा है उसके खिलाफ फरीदाबाद पुलिस में जल्द मुकदमा दर्ज कराऊंगा pic.twitter.com/IqaDHJQ47l
— Bittu Bajrangi (@bittubajrangi34) December 24, 2023
Mahesh Panchal, the brother of Gau Raksha Bajrang Force president Bittu Bajrangi, died after fighting for his life for almost a month. Individuals like Mohammed Zubair and his adherents should be questioned at this point: why would someone plan his own death, that to one as heinous as this? The physical and emotional suffering Mahesh Panchal must have gone through every single minute in this last month is unimaginable. However, none of this matters to Zubair or his adherents. The only thing which matters to them is muddling the readers with fake news and biased fact-checks focusing only on those facets that help them bolster their anti-Hindu propaganda.
