An old video of a policeman chanting pro-Hindutva slogans at a rally is viral with false claims that it shows Tripura Police encouraging rioters and fueling further violence.
The video shows a uniformed cop sloganeering Jai Shri Ram, along with other participants who can be heard in the background. Saffron flags can be seen being waved at the rally, as another policeman manages the crowd.
The video is viral in the middle of reports of attacks on mosques and properties of Muslims in the state of Tripura. The violence was triggered by local protests against the recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, where at least seven people were killed after riots broke out. As a result, as many as 10 incidents of religious violence were reported from North Tripura in this week.
The video is doing the rounds with a caption, "This is Tripura Police. Leading the rioters to burn Muslims' houses, mosques and their shops, with their slogans."
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The same video is viral on Facebook with a similar caption.
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Also Read: Unrelated Video From UP Falsely Shared As Protests In North Tripura
Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search of one of the keyframes of the video and found the video posted on several YouTube channels in 2018.
A YouTube channel named SK HUSSAIN posted the video on April 5, 2018. The video with caption reads as, "This police man who supporting this group to create violence, then how to trust police too?". The time stamp of the video posted on YouTube can be seen below.
We also found the same video uploaded on April 25, 2018, on a YouTube channel named APCR Delhi Chapter with a caption saying, "ASI is chaunting jai sri ram slogans". Another YouTube channel named Nitesh Sharma Basti uploaded a longer version of the video on November 25, 2018 claiming it to be from Ayodhya. People can be heard raising other right wing slogans as they walk in the rally.
The video is titled with a Hindi caption which translates to, "Police in Ayodha too said Jai Shri Ram - Jai Shri Ram".
(Original Text in Hindi: अयोध्या में पुलिस ने भी कहा जय श्री राम - जय श्री राम)
Additionally, we found an older Facebook post with the video from March 28, 2018, with the caption when translated reads, "Cops of Bihar Police with rioters are also raising slogans of Jai Shri Ram, these people are also defaming the holy slogan."
Video Present Since March, 2018
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Patna Live, a local news outlet had also carried the same video in its report dated March 30, 2018, stating that on March 27, 2018, on the occasion of Chaitra Durga Puja in Rosda Bazar in Samastipur district, Bihar, there was stone pelting and arson after a dispute between two communities. The report further stated that a video of a Bihar policeman shouting 'Jai Shree Ram' had gone viral after the incident.
(Note: This story has been updated to state the video is from March 2018, Bihar)
Also Read: Video From MP Shared With False Claim Of Crackdown On Namaz In UP