A video of people vandalising a bus by pelting stones is being shared with a false claim that a group of Muslim autorickshaw drivers attacked a bus in Bandra area of Mumbai.
The video is viral on social media with the caption, "Oppose of bus route started to Bandra to BKC by group of Muslim Rikshawala’s running share Riksha on that route."
BOOM received this video on our WhatsApp helpline number (+91 77009 06111).
Viral message received on BOOM's helpline
The same clip was shared on Twitter, with the same caption and many people tagged Mumbai police asking them to take action.
Click here to view the tweet, and here to view an archive.
Viral on Facebook
We also found the video viral on Facebook with the same misleading claim.
Viral on Facebook
FACT-CHECK
BOOM broke the video into key frames and ran a reverse image search which showed results that the video was from Surat, Gujarat.
According to media reports, the incident happened on July 5, 2019, in Surat area of Gujarat during a silent rally taken out to protest mob lynchings. The protest turned violent after police approached the protesters to stop the rally for lack of permission.
"People began pelting stones and police had to resort to firing tear gas shells," reported Ahmedabad Mirror.
Ahmedabad Mirror article on the incident
"Things escalated to the point where protesters resorted to stone pelting in which two BRTS buses and two police vehicles were damaged. Police had to fire two rounds in the air and nearly a dozen tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. Seven people were arrested in the incident," further reported Ahmedabad Mirror.
BOOM also found the damaged bus could be seen in news story by ABP Asmita, the Gujarati language news channel run by ABP. The story uploaded on July 5, is titled, 'Surat: Violence erupted after a rally against mob lynching'
At 1.49 timestamp one can spot the same blue bus surrounded by protesters.
Ahmedabad Mirror also reported that two buses were damaged and a closer look at the viral video, one can see two buses - one in the front and other at the back surrounded by protestors.
BOOM also found that visuals of the damaged bus as seen in various media reports like TV9 Gujarati is similar to the bus in the viral video.
Screenshot of the bus from the viral video and screenshot of the bus in the news video
BOOM has contacted Surat Police for a comment, the article will be updated once a response is received.
BOOM Reports
