A 2018 video from Chopda city in Maharashtra of a Muslim man threatening a police constable is viral with the false claim that it shows a recent incident from Karnataka after the Congress won a majority in the assembly election.
The Congress Party won 135 seats in the Karnataka assembly election on May 13, 2023, crossing the halfway mark of 113 seats and dislodging the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state. The BJP got 66 seats and the Janata Dal (Secular) got 19 seats. Following the verdict, several videos have gone viral on social media with some being shared with false and misleading claims.
The viral video shows a uniformed police personnel in a heated argument with a Muslim man who tells him, "meet me when you are not in uniform".
The video is being shared with the caption when translated reads, "Victory of Congress*: The Chief Minister has not even taken oath yet and this is the situation in Karnataka".
(In Hindi - *कांग्रेस की जीत* : अभी तो मुख्य मंत्री ने शपथ भी नही ली और ये हाल है कर्नाटक में)
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BOOM also received the viral video on our WhatsApp helpline number (77009 06588) inquiring about it.
Also Read:Video Does Not Show Pak Flag Raised In Karnataka After Congress Win
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is from 2018 and shows an incident that happened in Chopda city in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra and not a recent video from Karnataka after the assembly election.
We had previously fact-checked the same video in April 2022 when it was being shared with the false claim that it was an incident from Delhi's Jahangirpuri area where communal clashes had taken place.
In the viral video, one man is arguing with the police constables and can be heard speaking in Marathi. Furthermore, the signboards seen in the video also have Marathi text indicating the video is from Maharashtra.
The insignia seen on the policeman's left sleeve is also of Maharashtra Police. A comparison can be seen below.
A keyword search for "वर्दी उतार कर मिल ले" in Hindi showed a Facebook post with a longer version of the same video uploaded on September 20, 2018. The video was captioned, "Dhuley Maharashtra.…". The video was captioned, "Dhuley Maharashtra.…".
Going through the replies on the above video, we found a March 9, 2021 comment by a user named Kedar Dhangar, who had stated that the incident is from Chopda bus stand in Maharashtra. Dhangar in his reply said that the police personnel had beaten up a fruit vendor and that led to an altercation.
BOOM had back then contacted Kedar Dhangar who confirmed that the video is from 2018 and from Maharashtra. Dhangar had told BOOM that he was present at the Chopda bus stand when the incident happened.
"I was in standard 11th and returning from college after appearing for some internal exams when we first saw the policeman arguing and pushing a young fruit vendor and asking him to move his stall as it was blocking traffic. After sometime, we saw the same fruit vendor enter the bus stand with two older men who were angry that the policeman had beaten up the fruit seller," explained Dhangar. He added that the argument went on for a few minutes and was halted after a man named Sonawane, the in-charge for the Chopda bus stand intervened. "The video is not from Delhi but from Chopda where I stay. I take a bus from the same place everyday and I saw this argument happening right in front of me," Dhangar had stated.
Further, we were also able to identify the policeman seen in the video as a Shrikant Gangurde who was posted as a Police Naik at the Sub Divisional Police Office in Chopda in April 2022. BOOM had then contacted Gangurde who confirmed that it is him in the video and said the incident happened on September 12, 2018. "I remember the date correctly and I was then a police constable posted at the Chopda city police station. My duty for the day was at the Chopda bus stand where the incident happened," Gangurde had told BOOM.
Recalling the incident, he had said, "A young man had set up a tempo at the place where buses exited and was selling apples. His stall was causing a traffic blockage and hindering movement of the buses so I asked him to move his stall. But he refused to do so despite repeated warning and we got into an argument. After sometime, he brought his father and grandfather who are seen in the viral video arguing with me. The father alleged that I had beaten up his son (the fruit vendor) and said he would take action against me. In his anger, he said the line that is viral about meeting him when I am not in uniform."
Gangurde added that after the incident, the video went viral and the police station also registered a case against the two men. "The man who threatened me is Naeem Bagwan and the older man is Raheem Bagwan. We registered a case against them for threatening a public officer on duty."