A video from Bangladesh is viral with a false claim that it shows Trinamool Congress-affiliated goons trying to capture booths in Phase 1 of West Bengal elections, before being thwarted by the Indian Army.
BOOM found that the video is from Dighinala Upazila in Bangladesh and shows an election drill that was conducted by the Bangladesh Army ahead of its national parliamentary election in February 2026.
In the 5 minute 57 seconds long footage, a group of people can be seen creating chaos at a polling centre, attempting vandalism and casting fraudulent votes. Security personnel later take action against them and restore order to ensure safe voting for citizens.
The Claim
The video was shared with the caption, "The army gave a thorough thrashing to all the TMC thugs and rioters who were trying to capture booths, and this isn't just one such incident—today, hundreds of such incidents have come to light. The Indian Army is with you, all fellow patriots". (sic)
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
What We Found: Video Is From Bangladesh
1. Video Shows Election Drill in Bangladesh: On closely examining the footage, we noticed a banner in Bengali reading “13th National Parliamentary Election - 2026”, “Rashik Nagar Government Primary School”, and “Election Exercise”. Based on these cues, we conducted a keyword search on Facebook and found a local news report dated February 9, 2026, carrying the same video from Bangladesh.
The report stated that the footage shows a drill conducted by the Bangladesh Army to ensure the security of polling centres in Dighinala Upazila.
2. News Reports Confirm the Drill: We also came across multiple local news reports from Bangladesh dated February 9, 2026, covering the same exercise conducted by the Bangladesh Army. One such report by Ekushey Patrika stated that the drill took place in Dighinala, Khagrachhari, ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election.
The report said, “This drill was organised on February 9 afternoon at the grounds of Rasik Nagar Government Primary School in the upazila, under the initiative of the Dighinala Zone. K. M. Obaidul Haque, Brigade Commander of the Khagrachhari 203 Infantry Brigade, attended the event as the chief guest and inspected the drill.”
A statement from a Bangladeshi official regarding the drill can be seen below.
Bangladesh held its 13th National Parliamentary Election on February 12, 2026, following a turbulent political crisis triggered by the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
