MP Congress Includes Mock Drill Video To Target CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Congress shared a 2017 video of a mock drill from Jharkhand claiming it is from Madhya Pradesh and shows police firing on farmers and is a reflection of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's rule in the state.

The video clip of a mock drill conducted by Jharkhand police in 2017 was shared by the official handles of MP Congress on Facebook and Twitter with other visuals aimed at Chouhan's tenure in Madhya Pradesh. The video by the MP Congress comes in the run up to the by-elections in 28 assembly constituencies of the state, scheduled to be held on November 3, 2020

The mock drill video can be seen at 20 seconds in the 1.59 minute full video with the text claiming that it shows police are firing on unarmed farmers under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Chauhan in the state.

The caption when translated reads, "15 years of Shivraj has pushed Madhya Pradesh in a state of despondency. Shivraj has become synonymous to lies, announcements, acting, corruption, and farmer suicides. The public now knows the lust for power behind Shivraj's changing masks/facades. Shivraj ji if you spread lies like this, you will lose the respect in the eyes of voters."

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(In Hindi - शिवराज के 15 साल, मध्यप्रदेश हुआ बदहाल; झूठ, घोषणा, अभिनय, भ्रष्टाचार और किसानों की मौत का पर्याय बन चुके शिवराज और उनके बदलते नक़ाबों की पीछे छिपी सत्ता हवस अब जनता देख चुकी है। शिवराज जी, अब आप जितना झूठ फैलाओगे, मतदाताओं की नज़र से उतना ही गिरते जाओगे।)

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Viral on Facebook

On searching with the same caption on Facebook, we found that the clip was being shared with the false claim.

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FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that the video is from 2017 and from Jharkhand and not from Madhya Pradesh.

Using InVid, a video verification tool, we broke the video into keyframes and performed a reverse image search, and found a similar video that was uploaded on November 1, 2017, stating that it was a mock drill by Jharkhand's Khunti Police.

BOOM had previously debunked the same clip when it was viral falsely shared as the Indian Army shooting at Kashmiri protesters in August 2019.

Also Read: Jharkhand Police's Mock Drill Video Shared As Army Shooting At Kashmiri Protesters

The same video had also gone viral in the past with the false claim that it showed Madhya Pradesh police firing at farmers in Mandsaur.

Using similar keywords we found another video titled 'Jharkhand police KHUNTI (part of traning) REHEARSAL' uploaded on November 4, 2017, one can view the training exercise from a different angle and makes it clear that the action is a mock drill.

On observing the video, one can confirm that it is a mock drill as people can be spotted recording the event on their mobile phones.

At the 0.50 timestamp, one can also spot people walking past as the police are charging towards the protesters. After shots are fired by the police at the 16 seconds timestamp, no blood spill or shot wounds can be spotted as the police put a protester on a stretcher.

Additionally in the viral video, one can spot an 'Allahabad bank' signboard at the seven seconds mark. Using Google Maps, we could locate the street on which the bank branch lies in Khunti, Jharkhand.

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