India Today investigation never said Kanhaiya Lal murder accused Riyaz Attari was a BJP member

On July 1, India Today’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), in an exclusive report, exposed how the duo tried to infiltrate the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan using their contacts in the party’s Minority Morcha.

The barbaric murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan's Udaipur has sent shockwaves across the nation. Riyaz Attari and Mohammad Ghaus, the two accused, were arrested soon after.

On July 1, India Today’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) in an exclusive report exposed how the duo tried to infiltrate the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan using their contacts in the party’s Minority Morcha. The probe found several photographs that showed Attari alongside local BJP members. He also attended several party events.

However, following this report, many on social media started claiming based on screenshots of the India Today report that the murderers were members of the saffron party. "Udaipur murderer is from BJP. I'm not even surprised," one person wrote on Facebook.

Senior Congress leader and former MP Renuka Chowdhury also made a similar claim on Twitter. "BJP Minority Cell accepts murderer Riyaz is a BJP karyakarta," her post announced. The graphic Chowdhury tweeted has been shared by many across social media platforms.

Nowhere in the India Today report does it say that they were BJP members. India Today’s report, based on the confession of one of his acquaintances, was able to confirm that Riyaz Attari was present at some local BJP events. India Today, however, never confirmed his affiliation to the party. Hence, the viral social media claims can't be attributed to the India Today report.

Whether Riyaz Attari ever formally joined the party in the past is a matter of further investigation — the India Today report has not delved into this matter.