Fact check

After social media outrage, ‘Rashid Khan’ justifying Shraddha murder turns out to be Vikas Kumar – Alt News

By Andrew McCollum

In the wake of the alleged murder of Shraddha Walkar by his partner Aftab Amin Poonawala, the video interview of a man claiming to be Rashid Khan from Bulandshahr went viral on social media where he says that when a man is angry, “he can make 36 pieces (of another person) instead of 35”, apparently suggesting that in a fit of rage, a man might lose control over himself. His comments were seen as justifying Poonawala’s alleged actions. On being asked if he has any experience in this field, he can be heard saying that he would also do the same if he gets angry. The full interview was uploaded on the Janta Darbar YouTube channel.


OpIndia also tweeted the clip wherein Khan is heard making the controversial statements. (Archive)

Editor-in-chief of YouTube channel Jan Ki Baat, Pradeep Bhandari, tweeted the video and in the caption, mentioned the name of the man as Rashid Khan. (Archive)

Ritesh Kashyap, a journalist with RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya, tweeted the video asking viewers to ‘understand what their mindset is and where they are getting their training from’.

Activist Jyot Jeet, who has a verified Twitter account, tweeted the same clip with the hashtag #LoveJihad_ActOfTerrorism.

Several other users also tweeted the clip.

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Alt News found another video interview of the same man on a YouTube channel named ‘TNN World’ where he identifies himself as Vikas. In that interview, he can be heard saying that Aftab murdered Shraddha because she must have done something wrong. He further states that since Aftab cut Shraddha’s corpse into 35 pieces, Aftab should be cut into 75 pieces. At 1:52 of the video, when the reporter asks if his name is Vikas, he says, “Aur Kya! daari se Mommedan lag raha hu, par Hindu hnu aur kya. Aadhaar card dekhle bhai”. (Translation: My beard makes me look like a Muslim, but I’m a Hindu. Check my Aadhaar card”.)

We also found that the official Twitter handle of Bulandshahr Police put out a video statement wherein they said that the man’s name was Vikas and not Rashid Khan. Police said that the person seen in the video had been arrested and the viral clip was shot in Delhi. they also said that five cases against Vikas had been filed prior to this incident.

Journalist Sachin Gupta also tweeted that ‘Rashid Khan’ who had justified the crime allegedly committed by Aftab turned out to be Vikas Kumar. He has been arrested.

Journalist Aditya Tiwari also tweeted the police findings. Tiwari also tweeted an image of Vikas Kumar’s Aadhaar card where his date of birth has been mentioned as January 1, 2004.

A video of Vikas Kumar speaking to a journalist after being arrested for his inappropriate comments was also found. On being asked why he identified himself as Rashid Khan, he says “Everyone called me Rashid there. I didn’t know that this incident would reach so many people”.

After the identity of the man came out in public domain, OpIndia clarified in a tweet that the man in the video had been identified as Vikas Kumar (Archive). They also published a new article with the police updates titled, “खुद को राशिद बता 36 टुकड़े करने की कर रहा था बात, UP पुलिस ने पकड़ा तो आफताब का ‘हमदर्द’ निकला विकास जाटव: कहा था- चाकू बजाते जाओ”.


After the police statement was released, Swati Goel Sharma, a journalist with the Right Wing news outlet Swarajya, made the claim that Vikas Kumar had recently converted to Hinduism and very likely had a Tablighi connection.

Alt News spoke to Bulandshahr Police who confirmed that the accused was named Vikas Kumar and not Rashid Khan. On being asked whether Vikas Kumar had recently converted to Islam, the Police said that they had no such information yet.

Hence, the man making inappropriate statements about the Shraddha Walkar murder case in the viral video shared by several prominent figures is actually Vikas Kumar, and not Rashid Khan, as he himself claimed in a video.

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Andrew McCollum