By Anmol Alphonso
A disturbing video showing a group of policemen caning people in what looks like a market area is being shared on social media with captions falsely linking it to police action during the recent communal clashes in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
BOOM found that the video is from December 2019 when police had used batons to disperse anti-CAA protesters in Gorakhpur, UP.
Communal clashes erupted in Beckanganj area of Kanpur on June 3, 2022, during a bandh called against anti-Prophet Mohammed remarks reportedly made by now suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma during a TV debate on May 27. Several people, including police personnel, were injured in the clashes.
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The viral video shows a group of policemen beating people with batons. The video has been overlaid with an announcement in Hindi requesting people to collect prasad (offering) at a bhandara (a religious feast).
The video is being shared with a sarcastic Hindi caption which translates to 'On the occasion of #Yogi_ji's birthday This huge Bhandara is going on in Kanpur. Those who want to take prasad in huge Bhandara must come in line. Prasad will be given completely so that you don't need to take prasad again. Come and get prasad..."
(In Hindi - #योगी_जी के जन्मदिन के अवसर पर. यह विशाल भंडारा कानपुर में चल रहा है जिन्हें भी विशाल भंडारे में प्रसाद लेना चाहते हैं वह लाइन से क्रमबद्ध होकर अवश्य पधारें उन्हें प्रसाद संपूर्ण रूप से दिया जाएगा ताकि दोबारा आपको प्रसाद लेने की आवश्यकता ना पड़े आइए और प्रसाद ग्रहण कीजिए विशाल भंडारे में आप ही का प्रसाद है और आप ही को दिया जा रहा है जैसा आप ने बनाया है वैसा ही आप को परोसा जा रहा है)
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The video is being shared with similar claims from many pages on Facebook.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is from December 2019 when police used batons on anti-CAA protesters in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
We did a reverse image search on a keyframe of the viral video along with a related keyword search and found a video report by Live Hindustan.
The Live Hindustan video report from December 19, 2019, contained the same visuals as that in the now-viral clip. The report title, when translated from Hindi, reads 'Gorakhpur: Two injured in stone pelting, lathi charge during protest against CAA'.
We can see the same visuals in this report as in the viral video.
The description with the video, when translated, reads 'After the incident of stone pelting at Nakhas Chowk during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the police used tear gas to control the protesters. The police also resorted to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control and disperse the furious mob'.
The description goes on to state that the protesters were taking out a procession after the Friday prayers and as they reached the Nakhas chowk, someone threw stones. As the situation went out of control after the stone pelting, police had to resort to lathi charge.
BOOM also found longer version of the same video shared on Facebook during December 2019.
A Hindi caption with a Facebook post shared on December 20, 2019 translates to '#Gorakhpur: A heavy protest after namaz in Nakhas chowk area, police and protesters had a pitched fight, stones were thrown and police resorted to lathi charge on the violent crowd'.
(Hindi: #गोरखपुर: मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ के गढ़ में नखास चौक पर नमाज के बाद भारी विरोध प्रदर्शन, पुलिस और प्रदर्शनकारियों के बीच हुई जमकर झड़प, जमकर चले ईंट-पत्थर और जूते, पुलिस ने हिंसक भीड़ पर भांजी लाठियां।)
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