A video showing policemen lathicharging a group of youth and dispersing them is viral on social media with false claims that it shows Uttar Pradesh police taking strict action on Muslims for offering namaz on the roads.
BOOM found that the video shows an incident which happened in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
The video, which has been filmed from atop a building, shows disturbing visuals of cops beating up youngsters and also lobbing teargas shells
The video is viral in the backdrop of Pakistan's win against India in the T-20 World Cup and reported celebrations in parts Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
The caption with the video in Hindi roughly translates to, "UP Police is marking all those areas where the firecrackers were burst yesterday. Yogiji is here, the offenders will not be spared as said yesterday. Pakistan's victory and India's defeat were being celebrated by lighting firecrackers and offering namaz of happiness. Then the eunuchs of Yogi Adityanath ji reached."
(Original Text in Hindi: UP पुलिस उन सभी इलाको को चिन्हित कर रही है जहां कल पटाखे फूटे थे कल ही बोला था यहां योगीजी है खाल खींच के लहरा दी जाएगी! पाकिस्तान की जीत और भारत की हार का जश्न मनाया जा रहा था पटाखे जलाकर और खुशी की नमाज पढ़ कर। तभी योगी आदित्यनाथ जी के यमदूत पहुंच गये।)
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The same video is viral on Twitter with a similar claim.
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BOOM also received the video with a similar claim on its WhatsApp helpline number.
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Fact Check
BOOM closely observed the video and found names of two shops "S. Deen Tailors" and "Friends Shoes" in a few frames. We then searched the shops on Google and found that both the shops are located at Gohalpur area, Jabalpur city in Madhya Pradesh.
The screenshots can be seen below.
Screenshots From The Video
Taking a cue from this, BOOM contacted the shop named S. Deen Tailors in Jabalpur city to find out more details about the video. Irfan, an employee of the shop, told BOOM, that the video is from the same place and it shows an incident when Madhya Pradesh police lathi-charged on worshippers after a Eid procession.
Irfan also sent us a photo of the Gohalpur Area, a busy marketplace. A shop present in Irfan's photograph corroborates with a shop which can be seen in a visual from the viral video. The comparison can be seen below.
We further did a keyword search to find out news reports about the clash and found an Indian Express report published on October 20, 2021 about the incident. The report states, "In Jabalpur, firecrackers and stones were allegedly hurled at police while devotees were gathering for prayers to mark Milad-un-Nabi."
News outlet MP Tak also reported about the clash in Jabalpur on October 19, 2021 and broadcast visuals from the same place where the incident had happened.
BOOM also contacted Jabalpur SP Siddharth Bahuguna to know more about the incident. He confirmed to BOOM that the video is from Jabalpur and is related to the Eid procession incident. Bahuguna said, "The police had to lathicharge because the crowd did not follow the route decided by the administration; in fact some of them even threw stone on the police."
The SP further added that the investigation is still going on and the police have arrested around 20 people related to the incident.
(Additional Reporting: Sujith A)
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