Prabhat Khabar's false reporting about militants in Ranchi

Hindi newspaper Prabhat Khabar is in controversy for allegedly publishing a sensational report about terrorists presence in a Ranchi township Baryatu.

The report not only made claims about the terrorist presence in the locality but also gave their names and identities, which proved to be false.

The police and intelligence officers also denied that they had any knowledge about Home Ministry report to which the Prabhat Khabar and Dainik Bhaskar reports pointed to. The aim was probably to create sensation for boosting readership in the Jharkhand capital where the arrival of a new newspaper had led to cutthroat competition.

It was surprising to see the report in Prabhat Khabar which has a reputation for fair journalism. But Bhaskar, Jagran, Telegraph also printed similar stories. Media website Coutermedia reports:

Though, the police officials of the state made it very clear on the very first day that, there are no such information but newspapers continued its utmost efforts to manufacture Muslim terrorists and malign the Muslim concentrated localities or cities and districts. Prabhat Khabar in its sub-heading wrote, “Millat Calony Baryatu ke rahane wale hain Danish aur Imtiyaz urf Immuddin” (Danish and Imtiyaz alias Immuddin are residents of Millat Colony, Baryatu). The newspaper claimed as pointers, “Jamtada main dikhe the Hyderabad main blats karne wale, Jamshedpur main pakdaye the do, Ajmer ghatna main Jamtada se giraftari, Hazaribagh main mare gaye the do” ( The bombers of Hyderabad were seen in Jamtada, Two were arrested from Jamshedpur, Arrest from Jamtada in Ajmer incident, Two were killed in Hazaribagh ). Dainik Bhaskar wrote, “Vanarasi Blast main wanted dono aatanki ke Ranchi wa Jamshedpur main chipe hone ki aashanka hai…inme ek ke Baryatu thana antargat chipe hone ki suchana hai”.

The countermedia report can be read at this link. Let's see if Prabhat Khabar or any other Jharkhand newspaper comes up with clarification. If they stand by it, they should corroborate facts and come up with a reason for publishing such reports that can cause panic and communal reaction in any city.