On Wednesday (17th January), a video emerged on social media in which a truck could be seen catching fire in Uttar Pradesh. The incident is believed to have happened on the 16th of January night. Several media reports and media individuals claimed that the truck carried firecrackers for the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya. However, the Unnao Police commented on the matter and clarified that the truck was going to Bahraich and not Ayodhya.
The matter came to light after journalist Mamata Tripathi posted a couple of videos on Twitter (X) and claimed that a truck carrying firecrackers was on its way to Ayodhya for the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony scheduled to take place on 22nd January.
“A truck carrying firecrackers was on its way to Ayodhya. It soon caught fire and the truck was destroyed completely,” she tweeted.
Even the NDTV news report peddled the information saying that “Truck carrying fireworks to Ayodhya catches fire.” The news report further added that “the truck full of fireworks might be headed to Ayodhya for the grand consecration ceremony at the Ram Temple on January 22.”
Further, a report by Republic TV also mentioned that the truck that caught fire was travelling to Ayodhya for the ceremony on 22nd January.
However, the Unnao Police took cognizance of the incident and clarified that the said truck was going from Tamil Nadu to Bahraich and not Ayodhya. “The fire has been completely extinguished by the police and fire brigade and there has been no loss of life. The truck was loaded with fireworks, children’s posters, film artists, and religious posters for shop supplies and it was going from Tamil Nadu to Bahraich.”
The cause of the fire is not known yet. There are no reports of any injuries in the incident.