A picture claiming that few RSS workers were caught stealing jewellery by offering to help people in Chennai is doing the rounds on social media. People have shared the image criticising and mocking the group for resorting to stealing because of unemployment.
A Facebook user posted the viral post, with a caption: बेरोजगारी चरम पर… अब 2 रुपए की ट्वीट से गुजारा नहीं हो रहा … #हाफ़चड्डीगैंग (English Translation): Unemployment at peak… Now I can’t survive with a tweet of 2 rupees. #HalfChaddiGang
You can check the post here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral post, and found it to be false.
We notice the logo of the Indian news channel ABP News at the bottom left corner of the picture. So, conducting a Google Keyword Search with relevant keywords, we found a tweet on the official account of ABP News, dated December 8, 2015.
The tweet carries the same picture as the recent one, and informs that the news is false. They further clarified that ABP News did not run any such story on their platform and the viral image is quite old and from Uttar Pradesh.
We also came across a news article, titled: फेसबुक पर आरएसएस को बदनाम करने की साजिश नाकाम (English: Conspiracy to defame RSS on Facebook foiled), dated December 9, 2015, on Jagran.
The news report, too, debunks the claim and informs that the viral picture was published in 2012 on the first page of Dainik Jagran, Agra. This confirms that the picture was being shared in 2015 as well to spread misinformation.
Finally, we found a November 11, 2012 news article in Jagran carrying the same picture but without the ABP News logo with an article, titled: दौड़ाकर पीटे स्वयंसेवक. It informs that RSS workers were taking out a cycle rally in Agra in 2012 and a car belonging to a BSP leader hit them. On opposing the accident, the volunteers were beaten up. When the volunteers went to the police to complain about the incident, they were lathi-charged. The viral photo was taken during this time.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the viral picture, claiming that RSS workers were caught stealing in Chennai while offering to help, is false.
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