A video showing a group of people sitting on the floor of a mall is widely shared on social media, claiming that “local slum dwellers from a particular religion” storming into Kolkata’s Quest Mall and insisting on receiving free food and gifts in honour of Eid.
The video is shared on Facebook with a caption: “Today in Quest Mall at 10:30 am… about 250 local slum dwellers from a particular religion barged into the mall demanding permission to stay as the city of Kolkata is reeling at 43C. The video taken by a guard was objected to by the trespassers who wanted free food from food court after sundown and free gift for Eid from Armani, Gucci, Paul Smith etc. The settlers have even threatened the mall manager of Quest Mall, and the owner of the mall, Sanjiv Goenka of CESC, is helpless as police are not registering FIR, and not cooperating with him.”
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be MISLEADING.
Using the InVid Tool and performing a Reverse Image Search, we found a news report by The Telegraph carrying the same images, dated April 18, 2023, with a headline: “Complaints of power cuts across Kolkata, CESC cites usage beyond sanctioned load.” The image description reads: “Stills from a video show residents of Radha Gobindo Saha Lane and Dilkhusha Street, where power supply was off from around 6 pm on Sunday, in the neighbouring Quest Mall.” According to the report, the region is experiencing frequent power outages, and individuals from the Jadavpur locality have even thrown stones at the CESC office, which provides electricity to the area. Moreover, there is no reference to locals requesting gifts or free food.
According to other news reports, various protests have erupted in the pockets of Kolkata due to power cuts caused by distribution box tripping, transformer faults, and cable faults. None of the articles stated that any specific community demanded gifts for Eid.
Addressing the issue, CESC said the recent faults in the electric network were caused by excessive power demand, and they have urged consumers to use their electrical appliances judiciously to prevent overloading the network.
— CESC Limited (@CESCLimited) April 17, 2023
After the video went viral on social media and WhatsApp, the mall management issued a statement clarifying that the viral narrative associated with the video was false and called it outrightly baseless.
Thus, it is evident from the above information that the viral video showing locals resting in Kolkata Mall due to power outages is shared with misleading claims.
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