The Cambridge dictionary, defines the word “strangulate” as:

“to kill someone by pressing their throat so that they cannot breathe; strangle”

So when anyone makes the allegation that someone tried to strangulate him, it is quite a serious matter. Maybe not as serious as hacking to death or chopping of legs or blowing up a school building, but yes an attempt to strangulate is indeed serious. Modi-baiter Kanhaiya Kumar made this allegation on twitter today, and Indian media and media-persons went into a tizzy:

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Leave aside trivialities like how a “poor” student, whose mother earns barely enough to live, was travelling in a plane to Pune from Mumbai, a journey which takes less time by road than by flight, considering all the airport formalities. Or how Kanhaiya’s super detective skills managed to find out that his “strangulator” was a “strong BJP supporter”. The moot question here is Arvind Kejriwal’s favourite line: “Is it true?”

While this has been Kanhaiya’s version, various media reports seems to suggest something else:

First, Jet Airway’s official statement says:

Jet Airways Official Statement: pic.twitter.com/phSMR4TuoX — Jet Airways (@jetairways) April 24, 2016

The official statement is very short and gives no details of the incident. But as per Hindustan Times, this is the police version, which according to Indian media, when it is convenient, should be considered as gospel truth:

An initial probe carried by police revealed that it was not a case of assault but the two pushed each other over a petty argument. Till 11.30 am, the Sahar police was waiting outside the airport premises to record statements of Kanhaiya and the other co-passenger. A police official from Sahar police said, “From the preliminary inquiry we have learnt that the co passenger had a window seat and while taking the seat he bumped into Kanhaiya. They pushed each other. But there was nothing like an assault or a fight. But we can ascertain anything only after they come out and we record statements of flight crew and the two involved in the incident.”

This is eerily similar to the “bindow seat” Yatra ad spoofing Kanhaiya Kumar. It would be highly amusing if this version finally comes out as the truth.

A Maharashtra Times report too alludes to something similar. The report says, Deka, the alleged assaulter had booked a window seat, and as he was moving towards his seat, he bumped (dhakka) into Kanhaiya, who was sitting on the next seat. This led to an argument between the two, and in anger, Deka held the collar of Kanhaiya. After this Kanhaiya complained to the security personnel and consequently both were de-boarded.

An Assistant Editor with The Indian Express too has tweeted something similar:

#KanhaiyaKumar ‘roughed up’: Police sources- Not a case of assault. Argument over seats lead 2 a scuffle between the two @IndianExpress — Rashmi Rajput (@RashmiRajput123) April 24, 2016

And the accused, Manas Deka, has also spoken to ABP News now in which he claims that he did not do any such thing. He says, he was sitting on the window seat and he was coming out. Since his leg was injured, he had to come out carefully, and in that movement, his hand hit Kanhaiya, which was then spun by Kanhaiya as “strangulation” in order to get publicity.

Also, one must question the intelligence of this so called “strangulator” who allegedly attempted to choke Kanhaiya to death inside an Aircraft, with zero chances of getting away with such a serious crime. Imagine the “plan”:

Buy a ticket, obtain a boarding pass with genuine ID proof, board the plane, “strangulate” Kanhaiya, since this is the only way to kill someone in a secure aircraft, escape (?) from the aircraft, onto the airport, another highly secure location, and then escape from there into the city!

Either the alleged “strangulator” is mentally deranged, or the accuser. And if this was not a planned attempt, then it was obviously a spur of the moment argument, which most reports are pointing to, unlike Kanhaiya, who chooses to bring in BJP into this.

As of now, investigations are on and it is premature to say which version is correct. But media cheer-leaders and rumour-mongerers seem to have already passed their verdict:

Some miscreants on social media also tried to spread the theory that the attacker was a BJP committee member:

But they were introduced to the rarely occurring phenomenon where 2 different people have the exact same name:

1st photo: Manas Deka from BJP. 2nd photo: probable Manas Deka attacked by Kanhaiya. CC to @sanjayuvacha @ikaveri pic.twitter.com/TapHq4Dy6v — Raju Das | ৰাজু দাস (@rajudasonline) April 24, 2016

And even as we discuss who is guilty and who is not, Left-wing trolls have begun tagging Manas Deka’s personal Facebook profile and are spurring other to attack him and his employers, to take action on him: