Fact Check: Not Vegetable Seller But SP Leader Hired Bouncers To Protest Against Rising Tomato Prices

New Delhi Vishvas News – Amid the significant increase in tomato prices in the country, a post is going viral on social media showing a man standing in front of a vegetable shop with two bouncers. News agency PTI, while sharing the picture, claimed that a vegetable vendor in Varanasi had hired bouncers to protect his tomatoes. Vishvas News fact-checked the viral post and found it to be misleading. In reality, a Samajwadi Party worker created a political drama by going to a local vegetable shop. Consequently, the Varanasi police registered an FIR against Samajwadi Party worker Ajay Fauji, the vegetable seller, and his son. Later, the vegetable seller and his son were arrested. During the investigation, it was discovered that PTI had deleted the tweet related to the false news and issued an apology.

What’s going viral?

On July 9, an Instagram user named ‘naughtyworld‘ (Archive) shared a post in English stating that a vegetable seller in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, had hired bouncers to prevent customers from stealing tomatoes, as the price had increased by 400% in the last few days. The vendor allegedly said, “I have hired bouncers because the price of tomatoes is very high… People are creating violence and looting tomatoes too.”

Vishvas News Investigation

Vishvas News first conducted a Google search to ascertain the truth behind the viral post. We found a news article published on Jagran.com regarding this incident. According to a news article published on July 10, it was reported that a Samajwadi Party worker named Ajay Yadav had deployed two bouncers at a vegetable shop in Varanasi’s Lanka police area to highlight the government’s failure to control the rising price of tomatoes. During the investigation by the Lanka Police, it was revealed that the shop did not belong to the SP leader but to someone else. The police apprehended the vegetable seller and took him to the police station.

Continuing the investigation, Vishvas News referred to the e-paper of Dainik Jagran, Varanasi. In a news article published on July 10, it was mentioned that the Lanka police apprehended the vegetable seller and brought him to the police station. Two bouncers were assigned to the shop to ensure the safety of the tomatoes.

On July 11, Dainik Jagran’s Varanasi edition published a news article stating that an SP worker named Ajay Yadav from Seer Govardhanpur had deployed two bouncers, claiming ownership of another vegetable shop, to protest against the increased price of tomatoes. During the investigation by the Lanka Police, it was discovered that Rajnarayan and his son Vikas jointly ran the vegetable shop. The police filed a case against all three accused and arrested Rajnarayan and Vikas, while Ajay Yadav is still absconding.

While searching, news related to the incident was also found on the Hindustan Times website. According to the report, SP worker Ajay Fauji protested against the rising tomato prices by deploying two bouncers at a vegetable shop in the Lanka area of Varanasi. Shopkeeper Raj Narayan was taken into custody, and Ajay Fauji, who organised the dramatic protest, is currently on the run. The vegetable seller informed the police that Fauji had bought tomatoes worth Rs 500 from elsewhere and placed them in a basket at his vegetable shop. In protest, the bouncers sat at the shop and started selling tomatoes themselves.

The viral post mentioned PTI as a source. Therefore, Vishvas News conducted a search using PTI keywords and found a tweet from PTI dated July 9, stating that PTI had tweeted the news in the morning about a vegetable seller in Varanasi hiring bouncers due to the high price of tomatoes. However, they removed the tweet as they made a mistake by not verifying the source. They acknowledged not meeting their high standards of accuracy and objectivity and assured readers of their commitment to providing accurate and unbiased news.

To further investigate, Vishvas News contacted Pramod Yadav, Senior Correspondent of Dainik Jagran, Varanasi, and shared the viral post with him. He confirmed that the picture used in the viral post was of SP leader Ajay Yadav and not a vegetable seller. Yadav staged a political drama at the vegetable shop by employing bouncers.

DCP Kashi Zone RS Gautam also confirmed, “The case was a political protest, an attempt to disrupt social harmony. An FIR was filed, and some people were taken into custody.” Sections 153A, 295A, and sub-section 2 of 505 IPC were invoked in the FIR filed for this case.