Fact Test: Did UK Singh tweet looking for hospital bed for his own ‘Covid-positive’ brother?

Amid the scare attack at coronavirus, a tweet attributed to Ghaziabad BJP MP and former army chief UK Singh went viral for the wrong reason.

Several Twitter users like Tehseen Poonawalla who posted screenshot of a tweet from the union minister wanting to seek a hospital bed for a Covid-infected person.

Singh’s tweet marks the Ghaziabad district magistrate and says, “Take a look at this.” The following text in Hindi translates to: “Please help us. My Covid-infected brother needs a hospital bed. But we can not find a bed in Ghaziabad. ‘

Social media users immediately pointed out that the pathetic condition of Ghaziabad is such that an MP and former army chief on Twitter should seek help to get his Covid-infected brother into a hospital bed.

Poonawalla, who uploaded the screenshot of Singh’s tweet, wrote: ‘The crisis is terrible, imagine the Ghaziabad MP and former army chief trying to find beds via Twitter. I hope @gen_VKSingh ji finds a bed for his brother as soon as possible ”

India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that Singh did not tweet for his own brother. The MP explained to India Today and on Twitter that he marked the Ghaziabad DM for another person who was looking for a hospital bed for his brother.

Tweet that led to confusion

Singh posted the tweet on April 18, but later deleted it because it led to confusion among network users and gave rise to controversy. The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.

Afterwards, the former army chief elucidated by posting a new tweet and said: Tweet was ahead of a tweet to DM and says ‘look at this’. The forwarded tweet is in Hindi. Bed needs were sorted by DM & CMO, so after DM

I am amazed at the IQ level of trawl networks and fastest finger channels. Tweet was submitted to a tweet to DM saying “please check this”. Sent tweet is in hindi. Bed needs were sorted by DM & CMO, i.e. to DM. Imagine your understanding. https://t.co/BVZyZgQoDG

– Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) 18 April 2021

For further explanation, AFWA reached out to the Minister on WhatsApp, who told us the original tweet. “Now you will be able to see the evil. Read the tweet; it’s not about my own brother, ”Singh answers us.

We found that the MP was actually looking for a bed for the brother of one Chandra Prakash Rai, who is from Gorakhpur. AFWA spoke to Rai by telephone, saying the plea was for his brother Nilesh, who lives in Sahibabad and is suspected to be infected with the coronavirus.

According to Rai, the family was desperately looking for a hospital bed, so he asked the Ghaziabad MP for help by tagging him in a tweet.

Instead of retweeting Rai’s message, Singh copied the text, which led to confusion. Later, after the fiasco on social media, he posted the original tweet to seek help for the person concerned.

Although the renewed increase in cases, coupled with reports of the unavailability of hospital beds, has caused panic among people, it is clear that Singh’s tweet was not for his own brother.