Lighthouse Journalism came across a collage of pictures being widely shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. The pictures were shared along with the claim that a Hindu family was murdered in Bangladesh. The claim was shared giving it a communal angle. Upon investigation it was found that the post is misleading and that the accused in the case was Rijab Bhoumik nephew of victim Bikash Sarkar in the case.
Claim:
Twitter user Rishant Choudhary, shared the viral claim on his profile.
Check the archive version of the post.
The posts found on Facebook were more detailed.
The posts were also shared widely on X.
Investigation:
We started our investigation by checking the news reports about the incident.
There were names circulating along with the post, ‘Vikas Sarkar and Swarna Rani Sarkar’. We then ran a Google search on these names.
Using the name, ‘Swarna Rani Sarkar’, we found a news report in thedailystar.net.
The report mentioned: The bodies of the victims – Paromita Sarkar Tushi, 15, and her parents Bikash Sarkar, 46, and Swarna Rani Sarkar – were recovered on Tuesday. Police say they were suspected to have been hacked to death two days before. The arrestee, Rajib Bhoumik, 35, is Bikash’s nephew, who claimed to have committed the murder over issues involving money.
We also found a report in observerbd.com titled: Entire family is finished by nephew
The report said: Rajib Kumar Bhowmik killed his maternal uncle Bikash Chandra Sarkar, aunt Swarna Rani Sarkar and cousin Tushi Sarkar at Tarash upazila in Sirajganj district as they sought their dues from him, police said.
The reports were uploaded on 31st January, 2024.
We also found a few reports about the incident in Bengali.
In the next step of investigation we connected with a fact checker from Bangladesh, Tausif Akbar. He confirmed that there was no communal angle in the incident. The accused of the murder is the victim’s relative and belongs to the same religion.
Tausif also shared a video news report with us.
Conclusion: A triple murder case in which three members of a Hindu family were brutally killed by their own relative in Bangladesh is being widely shared in India with misleading claims by giving it a communal angle.
