Millions of Indians woke up on Thursday to a deluge of news stories falsely claiming that the four Indian nationals accused of killing Canadian Sikh Hardeep Singh Nigar in June 2023 had been released from custody after the case against them collapsed.
These stories were repeated in many different media outlets, including the Times of India, which carried the headline Her report “Four Indians accused in the carpenter murder case released from custody in Canada.”
CBC News confirmed that the reports were false. None of Al-Najjar’s defendants has left custody, nor are they expected to do so.
“It is not true that the four defendants were released on bail,” Anne Seymour of the Public Prosecution Service in British Columbia told CBC News. He added: “The four defendants were arrested and remain in detention.”
Their next court appearance is a preliminary conference on February 11, and they will also appear in court on February 12.
There is no fact checking on social media rumours
Indian media outlets that have repeated these false claims include The Hindu Post, First Post, Hindustan Times, Business Today, Business Standard, India Today, New Indian Express, Mint News, News 18 and others.
The news appears to have been sparked by allegations made by Canadian social media accounts that appear to be based on a misreading of court documents. One of these tweets It had nearly 300,000 views and was still up at the time of publishing this article.
Many Indian media outlets linked this fake news to the supposed collapse of the Canadian police case against the four men, Karan Brar, Amandeep Singh, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh, or to the supposed failure of the “ignorant” Canadian police to oppose their release on October 11. Bail.
These claims are also false. Most or all of the articles remained in circulation at the time of publishing this report.
“Enjoy” the media
Critics of the Narendra Modi government have pointed to the erosion of journalistic standards and press freedom as one of the consequences of his populist, Hindu-centric and nationalist style of governance.
The country has witnessed the emergence of aggressive partisan media that closely adheres to the narratives of the Modi government and sometimes targets perceived enemies of the Modi government with salacious or insufficiently substantiated reports.
Some of the media outlets that picked up the false allegations about Najjar’s defendants fit the media image of Godi, but others did not. The Times of India has been publishing for 186 years and is the world’s largest English-language newspaper, yet it appears to have done less fact-checking of claims on social media than its more sensational counterparts in the Indian media landscape.
Relations with India are at their lowest point
The allegations and arrests related to Carpenter’s killing caused an unprecedented rupture in relations between Canada and India Mutual expulsion Significantly limited per country Diplomatic presence In the other.
Canada announced India’s High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and five other diplomats Undesirable character In October, after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police accused Modi’s government of inciting a campaign of violence and intimidation in Canada that included murder, arson, extortion and assault.
CBC News reported that investigators are looking at the four defendants in Al-Najjar’s killing, along with others, in connection with at least one homicide. Four more killings in CanadaAmong them was an 11-year-old child.
The US indictment strengthened Justin Trudeau’s claim that the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nigar in Canada was carried out by the Indian government. We speak to other alleged targets and give an exclusive look at the plot.
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