A video showing a mock drill carried out by the Punjab Police on dealing with uncooperative COVID-19 suspects is being shared as real.
The video shows several uniformed policemen wearing surgical mask, detain a youth who is unwilling to be checked by a doctor.
The claim with the video, in Gurmukhi script, reads 'Team of Punjab police and doctors arrested coronavirus patient. Punjab Police and Doctors are the best in the entire world. Note: This check should be applied in Ludhiana as well'.
BOOM found that the claim was false and the video actually shows a mock drill being conducted by Mansa (Punjab) district administration, along with a team of doctors, as part of the district administration's preparedness on COVID-19.
(Gurmukhi: ਕਰੌਨਾ ਵਾਇਰਸ ਦੇ ਮਰੀਜ਼ ਨੂੰ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਪੁਲੀਸ ਤੇ ਡਾਕਟਰਾਂ ਦੀ ਟੀਮ ਨੇ ਕੀਤਾ ਗਿਰਫਤਾਰ ਸਾਰੀ ਦੁਨੀਆੰ ਦੇ ਡਾਕਟਰਾਂ ਤੇ ਪੁਲੀਸ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵਧੀਆ ਸਾਡੀ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਪੁਲੀਸ ਤੇ ਡਾਕਟਰ ਨੋਟ :- ਇਹ ਚੈੱਕ ਨਾਕੇ ਲੁਧਿਆਣੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਜ਼ਰੂਰ ਲਗਾਓ )
Watch the viral video below and access its archived version here. Other posts with the same video can be accessed here.
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The video clip has been shared on WhatsApp with a similar text that reads: "As we all know any passenger frm spain to India has a obligatory quarentine period ...its amazing wot the Modi Govt offers to the passengers in quarentine ...Amazing ..its in Hindi .." (Sic)
The 90-second-long video looks quite staged from the onset. The clip shows a man walking through a market area while talking on his phone. Several onlookers wearing masks can be seen in the background. As he approaches a police barricade, some uniformed cops pick him up and a doctors puts a mask on his face. He is then carried away in an ambulance.
The video has also been shared on Twitter.
Fact Check
While watching the video carefully, we found that the vehicle registration number - PB31 H 9195 - belongs to Mansa in Punjab.
As the video looks staged, BOOM did a keyword search using 'कोरोना वायरस मॉक ड्रिल मनसा पंजाब' and found that a fact check on the same video had been done by Vishwas News. The Vishwas News article mentions that the the viral video is from Bachhoana village in Budhlada tehsil of Mansa.
BOOM then contacted the sub-divisional magistrate of Budhlada, Aditya Dachwal, who watched the video sent by our team and verified it.
Aditya Dachwal told BOOM, "We conducted a mock drill on March 13, 2020, in order to prepare for the COVID-19." Dachwal added, "The team included officials from district administration, police department, and doctors."
