The Crime Branch Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested eight individuals in connection with the murder of migrant worker Ramnarayan Baghel, who was mob-lynched in Attappallam, Palakkad, Kerala. The incident occurred on the night of December 17, when Baghel was falsely accused of theft and subjected to the assault after being mistaken for a Bangladeshi national. To date, eight individuals have been arrested in the case.

 On December 27, 2025, the investigation team reportedly stated that seven more people are yet to be arrested and that all the accused have been identified. The 31-second video of the incident went viral online, showing Ramnarayan being assaulted and repeatedly addressed as a “Bangladeshi” by the local residents. The incident triggered a sharp political confrontation, with the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] accusing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of fostering “hate politics” that led to the assault, an allegation the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly denied.

Meanwhile, social media users circulated a Malayalam newspaper clipping claiming that all those arrested belonged to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and were from the Muslim community. However, the clipping actually pertains to a separate incident from Malappuram in 2023, making the claim false.

Why is the claim misleading?

On December 20, a Facebook page hindutwa1234 shared a Malayalam newspaper clipping with a Malayalam caption that translates to “widely shared as Sanghis, people who are arrested are Muslims and belong to SDPI.”

As of December 30, the post garnered 67 likes, 13 comments, and 11 shares.

The majority of the comments refuted the post, stating that an old newspaper clipping is falsely linked to the recent incident. Confused by the post, a user asks what the reality is. Another user remarked, “The ‘Sangh’ is justifying after killing a poor man.”

On December 20, a X(formerly Twitter) user also shared the newspaper clipping with the same caption.

As of December 30, the post received 9,275 views, 304 likes, and 68 reposts.

A X user replied that what happened is cruel and, irrespective of who did it, no one should justify such incidents. The user also suggested confirming the information obtained from “WhatsApp University” before passing it along as accurate.

How did we verify?

We analysed the newspaper clipping and noticed that it reads, “Bihar native dies in Malappuram in mob lynching. Nine accused have been arrested.” It also says that the individuals arrested are Muhammed Afzal, Ayub, Fazil, Habib, Mehmood, Nasar, Abdul Samad, Sharafudin, and Zainul Abid.

The December 17 incident occurred in Attapallam, Palakkad, and the victim belonged to Chattisgarh, thus contradicting the information shared in the newspaper clipping.

Offbeat Concerns (OBC) performed a reverse image search, which led us to an Instagram post dated May 15, 2023.

The post reads: “Rajesh Manji (36), a native of Bihar, was killed by a mob in Kizhissery, Malappuram, after being accused of theft. After being informed by locals, the Kondotty police reached the spot at around 3:30 a.m. and found Rajesh lying on the roadside with serious injuries. He was taken to a private hospital in Kondotty, where he was declared dead. Police said the cause of death was internal and external injuries.”

OBC applied keywords like “Rajesh Manji,” “moblynching,” and “Malappuram,” conducting a keyword search that revealed news organizations such as The News Minute and The Times of India reported the incident in 2023.

According to The Hindu report dated May 14, 2023, the incident occurred at Kizhissery, near Kondotty, in the Malappuram district on May 13, 2023, when a group of people lynched Rajesh Manji, a labourer from Bihar. Nine men were arrested in connection with the incident.

The analysis reveals that a newspaper clipping corresponding to an incident from 2023 in Malappuram was falsely linked to a recent incident from Palakkad.