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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Crime & justice fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about crime & justice. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

6,854 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYCrime & justice

Video of a SI of Delhi Police, ‘Rakesh Tyagi’, threatening to shoot anti-CAA protestors after the conclusion of American President’s visit to India

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim linked a video of a uniformed man identifying himself as Rakesh Tyagi to events after the American president’s visit to India. It alleged that he was a serving Delhi Police sub-inspector threatening anti-CAA protesters, amid reports that police had issued orders to shoot rioters. The review distinguishes the video’s provenance from the separate unrest: it says shoot-at-sight orders were issued in some parts of Delhi, but identifies the man in the video as a former Delhi Police constable, not a serving sub-inspector. To investigate the man’s identity, the review says it searched for information using the name he gives in the video and found an ABP News report dated 29 December 2019. That report described Rakesh Tyagi as an ex-cop who had taken voluntary retirement in 2014 and was arrested by Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell for making provocative speeches while wearing a police uniform. The review says Scroll.in reported the same information and that Delhi Police’s DCP Cybercrime had also tweeted about the matter. The review also says the video had circulated on social media since at least December 2019. That chronology, together with the reported identification of Tyagi as a former constable who had retired in 2014, contradicts the post’s presentation of the clip as a serving sub-inspector’s threat made after the president’s visit. The excerpt does not provide the underlying ABP report, Scroll.in article, or tweet, so their details are available here only as the original review describes them.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

In Darmstadt sollen in der Nähe der Heidelberger Straße Schüsse gefallen sein, behauptet ein Facebook-Nutzer in einem Post vom 23. Februar 2020, und zwar - so die Angaben - "am 22 gegen 23.30". Angeblich seien zwei Menschen verletzt worden. Anwohner sollten ihre Wohnungen auf Bitten der Polizei nicht verlassen, heißt es weiter

Publisher’s rating: Die Polizei Darmstadt hat keine Warnung herausgegeben. Über Schüsse im Bereich der Heidelberger Straße ist den Beamten nichts bekannt.

The review concerns a Facebook post published on February 23, 2020, alleging that shots had been fired near Heidelberger Straße in Darmstadt at about 11:30 p.m. the previous night. The post also reportedly claimed that two people were injured and that police had asked residents to stay inside. These are the same place, date and allegations addressed by the investigation. DPA says it asked Darmstadt police about the incident. Police told the agency that no shots had been fired near Heidelberger Straße on February 22, and that there had been no such shooting there during the preceding months. The police spokesperson said an incident of that kind would have come to police attention. The review also reports that police had issued no warning of the sort described in the post. The review gives a separate reason to doubt that the Facebook image documented the alleged nighttime incident: it showed several police cars and an officer behind red-and-white tape, but police said the photo was taken during daylight. That contrasts with the post’s claim that the shots occurred around 11:30 p.m., when it would have been dark. The excerpt does not describe independent verification of the alleged injuries beyond the police inquiry, so the account’s reported police response and the image’s timing are the evidence it presents.

Fact CrescendoCrime & justice

Claim: Man arrested for sexual abuse in Chennai Washermanpet

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post claimed that a photograph showed a man named Salman being arrested for sexually harassing women in Washermanpet, Chennai. Fact Crescendo examined the photograph and reported that its setting did not fit Washermanpet: the roads appeared too wide, and the officers did not look like Tamil Nadu police. The review also noted that commenters had suggested the scene was in Kerala. These observations prompted the outlet to check the image’s origin rather than accept the caption as accurate.

FACTLYCrime & justice

40 out of 62 AAP MLAs in Delhi are accused of rape and other crimes against women

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned Delhi’s 2020 Assembly, asserting that 40 of the Aam Aadmi Party’s 62 MLAs were accused of rape and other crimes against women. FACTLY compared it with an Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report on the criminal backgrounds of Delhi MLAs. The excerpt identifies the report as “Delhi Assembly Election 2020 – Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of MLAs.” The figures in that report do not support the post’s count. FACTLY says 13 MLAs in total had declared cases related to crimes against women, and that this group included one MLA with a declared rape case. It also notes that two of the 13 were BJP MLAs. Thus, the report’s figure of 13 concerns MLAs across parties—not 40 AAP MLAs—and the one rape-case figure is not a count of 40. FACTLY further states that only one AAP MLA was accused of rape. Its account distinguishes that figure from the 13 MLAs who had declared cases related to crimes against women, which includes the rape case. On the evidence described in the review, the claim substantially overstates both the number of AAP MLAs implicated and the number associated with rape. The review labels the claim false.

Fact CrescendoCrime & justice

Claim: BJP man steals eggs from mid-day meal in Namakkal

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examined a viral post alleging that a BJP figure stole eggs intended for Namakkal’s mid-day meal scheme. The post presented the allegation as a Thanthi TV news card and said the card had been published on February 13. Fact Crescendo reported that Abdul Rahuman Jamaludeen posted it on February 15, 2020, alongside commentary accusing media of being sympathetic to the BJP. The investigators questioned whether the card was genuine because its Tamil wording misspelled the place name, its font looked unlike Thanthi TV’s usual cards, and the information area lacked the customary background design. They searched Thanthi TV’s Facebook page for the original card and found a different item: it reported that the Namakkal egg procurement price had risen by 10 paise to Rs. 4.10. They also searched for news about eggs sent for the mid-day meal scheme being stolen in Namakkal on the purported date and reported finding no such news. Fact Crescendo additionally said Thanthi TV’s social-media and web-section administrator confirmed that the circulated card was fake. On the basis of the mismatch with the original card, the absence of reporting about the alleged theft, and the broadcaster’s confirmation, the review concluded that both the card and the claim it conveyed were false.

Fact CrescendoCrime & justice

Claim: Did this 70-year old man died in Chennai police attack

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigates a social-media post claiming that a 70-year-old man died after police attacked protesters in Chennai’s Washermenpet area. It says the post used a photograph and connected it to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The article places the protests on the night of February 14 and reports that police removed and arrested people after violence occurred. It also describes the circulating allegation that police had used batons and that an elderly man had died.