An old video of a group of people attacking journalists in a car has now surfaced on social media with a false claim that it shows a recent attack on a female journalist, in an attempt to obstruct her from reporting in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali.
BOOM found that that the video shows journalists from the Bengali news outlet 24 Ghanta being attacked while covering the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections in Keshpur, West Bengal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently hit out at the West Bengal government, addressing the allegations of sexual assault incidents involving the Trinamool Congress' now suspended leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates. Modi further remarked that the TMC government is making efforts to shield the accused and impeding the functioning of the 'Women Helpline' in West Bengal, a program introduced by the central government. Sheikh Shahjahan was apprehended by the West Bengal police on February 29, 2024, and is presently in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The 1 minute and 14 seconds-long video shows a group of people vandalising a car, attacking journalists sitting inside and shattering its glasses.
The video is now being circulated with a Hindi caption that translates to, "*Sandeshkhali* *In a state with a woman Chief Minister* *A female journalist is being welcomed*"
(Original Text in Hindi: *संदेशखाली* *एक महिला मुख्यमंत्री के राज्य में* *एक महिला पत्रकार का स्वागत*)
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Fact Check
BOOM first noticed the presence of the Bengal news outlet Zee 24 Ghanta's logo in the video's top right corner. Following that lead, we conducted a Bengali keyword search for "Attack on Zee 24 Ghanta Journalist," which led us to a Facebook post carrying the same news bulletin.
The Facebook post from April 1, 2021, stated that the video captures an attack on journalist Maitreyi Bhattacharya while she was reporting from Paschim Medinipur's Keshpur in West Bengal.
Zee 24 Ghanta also shared the same news bulletin from their official Facebook page corroborating same information on April 1, 2021.
We also found another news bulletin from Zee 24 Ghanta reporting about the incident and found a video report on their official YouTube channel dated April 1, 2021. In this report, Bhattacharya recounted her ordeal of being attacked while engaged in news reporting.
In the news bulletin, Bhattacharya detailed how she and her team followed a local BJP candidate who had received a tip about booth capturing during the elections in that area. However, the situation took a violent turn when a group of individuals surrounded them, vandalising their vehicle and questioning their reporting on the ruling Trinamool Congress.
According to India Today's report from April 2, 2021, the vehicle of BJP candidate Prithwish Ranjan Kuar was attacked while en route to Gun Hara village in Keshpur on April 1, 2021. The report also mentioned that West Midnapore SP, Dinesh Kumar, arrived in the area with police and central force personnel, later and arrested nine individuals related to the incident.
