UP journalist booked over LPG queue video, cops say ‘visuals old, misleading’

A journalist in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad has been booked over visuals of people queuing outside a gas agency – uploaded the same day that a 70-year-old man died of a suspected heart attack while waiting in queue for an LPG cylinder.

Anubhav Mishra, a reporter for Noida-based Hindi Khabar news channel, had received footage of an alleged cylinder shortage at Kamalganj’s gas agencies from a local stringer on March 13. He forwarded it to his channel’s WhatsApp group the same day. The visuals had originally been shot on March 11 by local stringers. Based on Mishra’s inputs, Hindi Khabar posted a tweet. 

However, the police contend that the visuals were misleading as they were two days old. An FIR was filed against the journalist at Farrukhabad’s Kamalganj police station on March 13 under Section 353(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita – related to public mischief through circulation of false content and rumour via electronic means. The outlet took down its tweet.

The Farrukhabad administration maintains there was no cylinder shortage and no crisis. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials to ensure smooth LPG distribution and prevent panic. “The situation is not as serious as it is being portrayed through rumours,” he was quoted as saying in a Hindustan Times report.

Speaking with Newslaundry, Atul Agrawal, editor-in-chief of Hindi Khabar channel said it was the “reporter’s fault”. “Firstly, there were issues with the story, which was sent three days ago and a trainee had put out the tweet. Secondly, there was a lack of understanding of what the story was on part of our district reporter, Anubhav Mishra.”

Agrawal said the channel verified that “there was panic-buying of cylinders in Farrukhabad due to problems in the online booking system” once it received information about the possibility of an FIR. “We have done many negative stories against CM Yogi but in this particular case, I admit it was our reporter’s fault.”

The tweet and the FIR

Based on Mishra’s inputs, Hindi Khabar had posted a tweet about the alleged cylinder shortage in Farrukhabad, with a teaser showing people standing in a queue outside the Kamalganj gas agency. The post, since taken down, stated in Hindi: “Farrukhabad: Chaos over LPG supply”; “Consumers face trouble as gas booking number stops functioning”; “Consumers forced to run from one gas agency to another”; “Gas agency staff cite server issues as consumers face trouble”; “No shortage of LPG supply in the district, says district magistrate”.

Before the FIR was registered, the Farrukhabad SP’s Media Cell sought deletion of the teasers, said Mishra, claiming the local police had also called the stringers who had first shared the visuals. 

The FIR alleged that the photos posted on Hindi Khabar’s Twitter handle were two days old and that, as per information from the Bharat Gas Agency, “some persons had gathered outside the agency without KYC verification and related booking and went away after they were told about the necessary formalities”. The complaint further stated that “the central as well as the state government have issued guidelines informing the citizens that there is no shortage of LPG supply” and that the district magistrate had already clarified the same.

Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar, the complainant, told Newslaundry: “There is no such crisis as is being claimed in the news story. When we went to the spot there were no long queues.” On the question of whether broadcasting two-day-old visuals constituted rumour-mongering, he said: “Firstly no such incident has come to our knowledge and secondly broadcasting old visuals is also wrong from date’s perspective.”

Mishra, who has worked as a reporter for five years, pushes back on both the characterisation and the process. “Most of the gas agencies in Farrukhabad have been facing similar issues – queues of people waiting outside for OTP, servers not functioning, agency workers insisting on KYC verification and consumers getting hassled, and so I had sent visuals along with this information as part of breaking news related input,” he said. “If something was factually wrong in the story then they could’ve sent me a notice and I would have responded accordingly. Filing an FIR against a journalist for a story is wrong in my opinion.”

“At times there is a delay when coordinating visuals in an electronic medium. Since I had received those visuals on March 13, I forwarded them to the WhatsApp group of my channel the same day,” Mishra told Newslaundry. 

The SP’s Media Cell declined to comment on any directive issued to the reporter or channel.

‘He died standing in a queue’

On the same day the FIR was filed, 70-year-old Mukhtiyar Ahmed – a zardozi embroidery worker from Farrukhabad’s Lal Sarai area – collapsed outside a gas agency and was declared dead.

Mukhtiyar had been diagnosed with a heart ailment six months prior and was undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Kanpur. On March 12, he had tried booking a cylinder through his mobile but received no confirmation message. He went to the Lal Sarai Bharat Gas Agency, paid Rs 930, was issued a paper receipt by the vendor, and told to return the next day.

On the morning of March 13, he stepped out at 7 am. His family received a call from onlookers at around 9.30 am. Videos circulating on social media show locals attempting CPR on an unconscious Mukhtiyar outside the gas agency. He was rushed to Uday Raj Nursing Home by his sons, where he was declared dead.

“The gas agency is 10 minutes away from our house and he had stepped out at 7 am, we got a call from onlookers at around 9.30 am so that’s how long he had to stand – for almost two hours – in a queue waiting for a cylinder,” said Mohammad Shahid, Mukhtiyar’s son-in-law.

The family holds the mismanagement of LPG supply responsible for his death. “Queues can be seen in the video itself and there was no proper facility for senior citizens. That aggravated his heart problem, just imagine if someone was standing in a queue for two hours and was also made to lift and drag the empty cylinder as the line moved forward,” Shahid said.

However, the District Supply Officer (DSO) of Farrukhabad, Surender Kumar, disputed the family’s account. “There is no shortage of cylinders here, nor are there queues anywhere. As per our information he had left for the gas agency at 8.30 am and fell ill around 9.15 am so how can one say he was standing in a queue for two hours?” 

When asked why the vendor had not arranged home delivery if there was no shortage, he said: “In a state of panic people are rushing the gas agency on their own. If he could've waited, the cylinder would have been delivered a day after the booking.” On the server failure that prevented Mukhtiyar from receiving a booking confirmation, Kumar added: “Due to high number of bookings in a panicky state, the server had crashed and so the DAC (Delivery Authentication Code) could not be generated – still the agency vendor had issued a paper slip based on the booking done.”

Mukhtiyar is survived by two sons, both zardozi labourers, and six daughters, five of them married.

The family has not filed a complaint. After local administration, including the DSO and Farrukhabad Superintendent of Police Aarti Singh, visited the family, a cylinder was delivered to their home, hours after Mukhtiyar’s death.

Complaining about the media is easy. Why not do something to make it better? Support independent media and subscribe to Newslaundry today.