After reports emerged that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi might be behind the murder of NCP leader Baba Ziauddin Siddique, a video of Purnia MP Pappu Yadav crying over the killing has gone viral.
A social media user shared the video claiming that the MP was crying over how the NCP leader was killed by Lawrence Bishnoi.
SouthCheck found that the claim was false. The viral video is from 2018.
We searched with relevant keywords and found the same video uploaded by the ABP News YouTube channel on September 6, 2018. It was titled, ‘Master Stroke: Bihar MP Pappu Yadav attacked by Bharat Bandh protesters’.
The caption read, “Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) chief and Bihar MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was attacked by the protestors in Bihar on Thursday amid the ongoing protest in the state by several organisations against amendments in the SC and ST act. Reports say that his cavalcade was attacked in Muzaffarpur, Bihar allegedly by supporters of the bandh. He was saved by his security personnel from attackers. He was about to hold a rally in the state when he was attacked by the protesters.”
Another news channel, News Tak also shared the video on September 6, 2018, with the same claim. The caption read, “Pappu Yadav, chief of Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik) and MP from Madhepura, was attacked during Bharat Bandh in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Pappu Yadav was attacked by unknown people. Pappu Yadav became emotional while narrating his ordeal and started crying.”
In the video, Pappu Yadav can be heard saying, “I never asked for anyone’s caste and never did any caste politics. But the attackers first asked for my caste and then attacked.”
The incident was also reported by Business Standard. According to the report, “Pappu Yadav claimed that he was attacked in Muzaffarpur during the Bharat Bandh, which was called by various rights organisations, against amendments in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. However, Muzaffarpur SSP Harpreet Kaur has denied any attack on Pappu Yadav."
While we could not independently verify if Pappu Yadav was assaulted or not, we can ascertain that the viral video of him crying is old.