A video of a mock security drill by local police, Riot Control Police (RCP) and the Quick Response Team (QRT) at DMart, a hypermarket in Virar, Mumbai is being falsely circulated on social media as a crackdown on terrorists at a shopping mall.
Several Whatsapp messages are being circulated with the narrative that ‘people were caught with guns and explosives,’.
While Facebook posts claim that ‘Islamic Jihadi terrorists were caught red handed on February 14, as they were placing bombs along with two guns in a shopping mall in Jalgaon, Maharashtra’ by the brave Indian Army.
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The 45 seconds video features officers escorting a man, whose face is covered. At the background a voice can be heard narrating in Marathi, “Terrorist caught. Along with him, two guns have also been seized.” The video has been used in several other pages, with similar narratives.
Fact Check:
The video is originally of a mock drill that was conducted by the Riot Control Police, Quick Response Team and the Virar Police station officers.
BOOM spoke to Jayant Bajbale, Sub-Divisional Officer, Virar, who confirmed the routine mock drill of counter terror attack. “It was an exercise of 30 minutes. There were 25 people from the QRT, and 15 from RCP and some from the local police station,” Bajbale said.
Bajbale informed that a member from the local police team had doubled up as a mock terrorist to help in the exercise.
Such mock drills, according to Bajbale, are conducted in crowded places mostly. “This in turn makes us check whether their fire safety and other security options are in place as well,” he added. BOOM also sourced news reports regarding the same event.