A video is being widely shared on social media in which people are beating youths, who were driving bikes, with sticks.

Those sharing the video claim it shows police beating Bajrang Dal members for creating a ruckus near a mosque during Tarawih prayers. Text on the video reads, “Tarawih prayers were being performed in the mosque, and police personnel were deployed for security. When some Bajrang Dal activists came near the mosque and started creating a ruckus, the police thrashed them thoroughly with lathis and sticks and chased them away.”

A social media user shared the video with the same text as the caption.

SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The video shows an annual horse-drawn carriage race in Sangli in Maharashtra.

On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same video was shared by News 18 Marathi on February 6, 2025.

The video was shared with a caption that reads, “Every year, during the Chinchli Yatra in Karnataka, there is a horse-drawn carriage race from Chinchli to Sangliwadi. During that, the youths created a ruckus. Then the police gave the ruckus a good beating.” (Translated from Marathi)

We further found that the longer version of the same video was also shared by Zee14 Taas on February 6, 2025.

The video was shared with a caption stating that Sangli police took action after hooliganism in a horse-drawn carriage race happened on Chinchli Yatra. In the video, at around 32 seconds, we can see the same video of police lathi-charging the youths on bikes.

The same video was also shared by BBC Marathi.

What is the horse-drawn carriage race event in Sangli?

In Sangli (Maharashtra), what’s being called a horse-drawn carriage/horse cart race refers to illegal horse cart racing events organised by local groups, often over long distances with crowds following on bikes.

These races have been criticised and acted against by authorities and animal-welfare groups like PETA India for cruelty and lack of permits, leading to FIRs and interventions by police.