BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje falsely claims Tablighi Jamaat attendees from Belagavi spat on hospital staff, misbehaved with them

BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje on Monday claimed on Twitter that people in Belagavi who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meeting spat on the hospital staff and misbehaved with them. She further claimed that 70 people from Belagavi had attended the meet in Delhi, and that eight of them tested positive.

70 people from Belagavi attended #NizamuddinMarkaj, among thm 8 tested +ve, rest of the results yet to come.

In #Quarantine wards #Tablighis are misbehaving with our #HealthcareHeroes, dancing &spitting everywhere.Nation wants to know the intentions of #TablighiJamaat!! pic.twitter.com/07GojoiycM— Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) April 6, 2020

However, contrary to Karandlaje's claims, the video (shared by her) shows no misbehaviour of any kind. Further, The News Minute also quoted Belagavi Deputy Commissioner SB Bommanahalli as saying that the people quarantined in the district were not spitting or misbehaving with health workers.

File image of BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje. News18

Vinay Bastikop, Director, Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, also said in a detailed statement that there were only 33 people admitted in the hospital that attended the Tablighi Jamaat in March and that the three people who tested positive were in a separate isolation ward.

The statement further notes that the video has been "filmed by the suspect cases themselves and should have been around the time when they were being separated from the COVID negative suspects."

This is not the first time that Karandlaje has tweeted fake news. In May 2019, the BJP leader claimed that a teenager named Shivu Uppar was murdered and hanged for protecting cows from cow smugglers.However, The Times of India quoted the parents of the teenager as stating that he committed suicide.They said that he ended his life as they asked him to concentrate on his studies rather than getting involved in cow protection activities.