Fact Check: Viral Video of Karni Sena Leader Misrepresented as Recent Incident

NEW DELHI: A video of Kshatriya Karni Sena national president Raj Singh Shekhawat announcing a cash reward of Rs 1,11,11,111 to any policeman who kills jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in an encounter has been widely shared on social media.

The video also shows some people forcibly making him sit in a car, during which his turban falls off. The users shared the video claiming that it was a recent incident which took place after Shekhawat made the announcement. However, the PTI Fact Check Desk found the claim to be misleading since the viral video dates back to April 2024 and doesn't have any connection with Shekhawat's recent statement.

Sharing this video on Facebook, a user wrote: "The public provided the full amount to Raj Shekhawat Bhai Jaan, who announced Rs 1 crore 11 lakh 11 thousand 111 on Bishnoi encounter." This post has now been viewed more than 10,000 times and this number is increasing continuously. To verify the veracity of the claim, the Desk reverse searched keyframes of the video through Google Lens and found that the same video was uploaded on the official channel of Bansal News MPCG, on April 10, 2024.

The video report said that Raj Shekhawat was going to surround the BJP office with his supporters but the Gujarat Police arrested him at Ahmedabad Airport. During this, his turban fell off. A news report by Aaj Tak, dated April 9, 2024, stated that after the controversial remarks made by Union Minister Purushottam Rupala on Rajput women during the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Karni Sena leader Raj Shekhawat had planned to surround the state BJP headquarters. However, the police took him into custody at the airport itself.

The viral video is from that time. According to media reports, Shekhawat has announced a cash reward of Rs 1,11,111,111 to the policeman who killed Lawrence Bishnoi in an encounter. Bishnoi has garnered significant attention recently due to his alleged involvement in the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddiqui in Mumbai, as well as his suspected threats against actor Salman Khan.

Our investigation so far makes it clear that the viral video is from April 2024 and has no connection with the recent statement of Raj Singh Shekhawat.

The footage has been shared on social media with a misleading claim. Read the full fact-check report here: https://bit.ly/4heq5XT