A distressing video showing an injured minor boy in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests that turned violent on December 20, 2019 has been revived with a false claim that it shows Varanasi Police killing children from a local mosque.
The video shows a grievously injured boy bleeding from the head and nose. When a man asks the child who is responsible for the injuries; the minor names the police.
BOOM was able to confirm that the video is from Bijnor's Jalalabad area, where large-scale violence broke out after protests against the citizenship law turned violent.
Several parts of Uttar Pradesh witnessed a riot-like situation in December 2019 after massive protests broke out in districts against the citizenship act that was announced on December 12. Two people were killed in the violence in Bijnor district, while the protests and police crackdown claimed around 11 lives in the state.
The boy appears to have been injured during a lathicharge by police.
Note: The below video is distressing in nature.
The video was tweeted by the account @Dalal_alajmi_ and was retweeted over 2,000 times at the time of writing.
Click here to view the archive of the video.
Fact Check
BOOM was able to ascertain that the video is not recent, as it surfaced during the anti-CAA protests in December. We scanned for replies on the viral tweet and found a reply which stated that the video is from Jalalabad area of Bijnor district (Uttar Pradesh).
Upon relevant keyword searches, we found the same video, which was shared by one Immy Imran Khan on Facebook along with several other footage documenting the protests of Bijnor. Click here to access the link of the video.
BOOM reached out to Imran Khan, who confirmed that he had shot the clip of the injured minor in the Qaziyan Mohalla of Jalalabad on December 20. Khan told BOOM, "These children were returning after their Friday prayers in Masjid Gali of Qaziyan Mohalla when I shot this video of the injured kid." He further corroborated the video by shooting another video in the same area on May 25, after BOOM contacted him. The same has been accessed by BOOM.
BOOM also found local news bulletins, which corroborated allegations of police lathicharging several children as well after the anti-CAA protests turned violent in Jalalabad area on December 20.
According to a report, a court in Bijnor granted bail to 48 people accused by the state police of rioting and attempted murder during the protests. According to the FIR filed by the local police, a mob of thousands gathered after Friday prayers, vandalised private vehicles and shops without provocation, broke government vehicles, threw stones at the police trying to control the situation and even fired at them. BOOM however could not independently verify the attack on the minor.
