A video showing a scuffle between supporters of two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders during a bike rally in Agra, Uttar Pradesh is being shared with false captions claiming it shows locals pelting stones at a BJP convoy.
BOOM spoke to Agra Police Media Cell who refuted the viral claims stating that it was a clash between party supporters of two BJP leaders - former minister Aridaman Singh and ex-block pramukh Sugriv Singh Chauhan.
The Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are due next year and social media is abuzz with misinformation around the polls. The video is viral in this backdrop.
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The viral clip shows people vandalising vehicles of a convoy. BJP flags can also be seen on some of the vehicles.
The video has been shared in a Facebook post with a Hindi caption translating to 'The trends for the UP assembly elections have started coming...BJP leaders are being warmly welcomed. People broke vehicles surrounded by BJP convoy, leaders ran to save lives'.
(Hindi: यूपी विधानसभा चुनाव के रुझान आने शुरू हो गए हैं... भाजपाई नेताओं का जमकर स्वागत किया जा रहा हैं BJP काफिले को लोगों ने घेरा गाड़ियां तोड़ी, जान बचा भागे नेता)
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The video has also been shared by several verified social media handles of Congress party including - West Bengal Youth Congress, Maharashtra Youth Congress, and Rajasthan Youth Congress.
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FACT CHECK
The Rajasthan Youth Congress has uploaded an 11-minute-long video report by 'The Live TV' which has portions of the viral video. The report mentions that the incident took place in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. The Live TV report clearly states that locals had attacked a convoy of vehicles in a rally taken out by BJP.
Taking cue from this video, we searched with relevant keywords and found several news reports about the incident.
BOOM found that the viral video is from an incident that took place in Agra, UP on December 7, 2021. According to news reports, there was a clash between supporters of two BJP leaders - former minister Aridaman Singh and ex-block pramukh Sugriv Singh Chauhan.
InKhabar had a reported about the incident with the same viral video stating that supporters of former minister Aridaman Singh and ex-block pramukh Sugriv Singh Chauhan - both belonging to the BJP - had clashed during a rally in Agra, Uttar Pradesh on December 7.
The report stated that during clashes between the supporters of Singh and Chauhan, dozen vehicles were damaged. The report further added that during Singh's bike rally in Pinahat, Agra supporters of former minister Chauhan got into a fight with Singh's supporters that started the fight.
Additionally, according to a report by Amar Ujala on December 8, 2021, police registered a case against 146 named and 200 unknown people, including former minister Aridaman Singh.
BOOM also reached out to Agra SP Sudhir Kumar Singh's office who directed us to Agra Police social media cell who refuted the viral claims.
"The clash happened on December 7, 2021 afternoon between supporters of Chauhan and Singh during a bike rally where there was an argument between both sides which led to the incident. The convoy was not attacked by locals, it was a clash between party workers," an officer from Agra Police social media cell told BOOM
Agra Police had also tweeted about the incident on December 7, where SP Vikas Kumar said that there was a clash between two groups Agra's in Pinahat area during which some vehicles were damaged. He added that video footage has been obtained and legal action would be taken after collection of evidence.