On September 22, a banner reading ‘I Love Muhammad’ during a Barawafat procession in Kanpur triggered objections from Hindu groups who said it introduced new customs. FIRs were filed, protests broke out, and the debate spread across several states.
In the above context, a video is being widely shared on social media in which police are seen arresting some men.
The video is shared with a caption that the police had arrested these men, who were Muslims and were chanting ‘I love Mohammad’ in front of vehicles on the road.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “In Kurla, on LBS Marg, the Mumbai police are giving ‘proper treatment’ to Muslims who forcibly stopped traffic and pasted ‘I Love Muhammad’ stickers on vehicles.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video shows police arresting men in Nasik who were celebrating the release of a person accused of murder.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by an Instagram page on October 1. The video was shared with a caption that reads, “Nashik Police Thrash Goons, Take Out Procession on Streets.”
Using this information, we searched with relevant keywords and found that a similar video was published by ABP Majha on its YouTube channel on September 30. The video was shared with a caption that reads, “Nashik Police Action: After being released from jail, they took out a procession, but the police caught them again and beat them up.”
We compared the viral video with the video shared by ABP Majha.
In the video, we can see the man in a light-coloured kurta; behind him, there are two other men wearing black trousers and a brown t-shirt. We can also see a boy in a blue shirt, along with a man in a black and white patterned t-shirt. This showed that both videos are of the same incident.
Nasik police also wrote about the incident on its Facebook account on October 1.
The account shared various screenshots of the news reports suggesting that a murder accused in Nashik was released on bail. Some celebrated his release on the road, which led to their arrest.
The incident was also reported by Times Now on September 30. According to the report, A Nashik murder accused, released on bail, celebrated his release by leading a procession with supporters. The rally obstructed traffic and displayed weapons, prompting police action. Authorities arrested 17 individuals and charged them under the Indian Arms Act and relevant sections of the BNS Act. A viral video showed police parading the detained gang members, leading to widespread attention.
We found no reports of a clash regarding the ‘I Love Muhammad’ slogan in Nasik. Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.