Old Video From Mumbra Falsely Linked To Police Action In Kanpur Violence

Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh was in a grip of violence on June 3 after groups of people tried to force shopkeepers to down shutters in Nai Sadak and Yateemkhana areas of the city after the Friday namaz. According to a Times Of India report, clashes broke out between two groups on June 3.

An Indian Express report stated that a call for bandh on Friday had been given 'to protest an objectionable statement against the Prophet, purportedly made by BJP leader Nupur Sharma during a TV debate on May 27'. The report further mentioned that police officers had said the call for bandh was given by a local outfit named MMA Jauhar Fans Association. As per the association's website, it is a non-profit organisation operating for the last 12 year, focussing on alleviating poverty and social justice, the Express report added.

On June 4, police lodged three separate FIRs related to the violence. The FIRs named 55 persons and hundreds of unidentified people for their alleged role in Friday's clashes and police arrested 22 people. The video is viral in this backdrop.

The 18-second-long video shows policemen hitting some people with canes during night time even as they scream in pain.

The video has been shared on Facebook with a Hindi caption translating to 'These strange noises heard in the alleys of Kanpur at midnight is what has been defined as relief in shastras'.

(Hindi: आधी रात को कानपुर की गलियों से आती हुई इन विचित्र प्रकार की आवाज़ को ही शास्त्रों में शुकुन कहा गया है)

Watch the Facebook posts here, here and here.

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The video has been shared on Twitter with similar claims.

The tweet in Hindi translates to 'The sound of sighs coming from the streets of #Kanpur at midnight is making my heart cry. Remember, we are standing at the last limit of patience. Now you have to worry'.

(Hindi: आधी रात को #कानपुर की गलियों से आती हुई आह की आवाजे जो दिल को रूला दे रही हैं। याद रखो हम सब्र की आखिरी हद पर खड़े है। अब घबराना तुमको है।)

Fact Check

BOOM had debunked the same video in 2020 when it was viral as police retaliation in Indore, Madhya Pradesh where a medical team was attacked by locals when visiting the area to screen them for Coronavirus.

See two old Tweets here and here.

Through reverse image search, BOOM had found a longer version of the viral video uploaded on a YouTube channel Gallinews India on March 29, 2020.

The description with the video, in Hindi, translates to 'Bystanders watching a brawl between two group caned by policemen'. A hashtag of Mumbra Police was also used with the caption.

BOOM then contacted a reporter from the area who gave us more details on the incident. He also shared a video from a YouTube channel named Hindustani Reporter on March 29, 2020, which had a longer version of the same clip.

The video reported stated that the incident took place in Kausa, Shree Lanka on March 27.

The video report further added that supporters of two local politicians had clashed with each other and police had to intervene to disperse the crowd. While one group claimed that the clashes were a result of illegal constructions, the other group called it a result of jealousy over food distribution during lockdown.

The video shows the entire incident in detail.

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