On November 24, a violent clash erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district after a mob opposing a survey of a mosque clashed with the police. The court-mandated survey was for the Shahi Jama Masjid, which some claimed was built over a Hindu temple.
In the above backdrop, a video is being widely shared on social media in which a mob is being lathi-charged by the police. An X user shared the video and wrote, “UP police in action against rioters in Sambhal. Repost if you support the police action against rioters to maintain the law and order. (sic)”
Similar posts can be seen here.
SouthCheck found that the claim was false. The video is from an anti-CAA protest in Uttar Pradesh in 2019.
On a Google reverse image search, we found the same video shared by a Facebook page called Judge Advocates Pidit organization JAPO, on January 25, 2020. This hinted that that is video is old and is unrelated to the violence in Sambhal district.
The caption read, “From this video, you can see how peaceful protestors are being lathi-charged in Uttar Pradesh. Look how the common people are being beaten up on the orders of illegally recruited goons Yogi Adityanath. It is very dangerous for the country. It seems as if the British puppets have started to rule the country. Highly condemnable. Jai Hind, Subhash KT Ludhiana.”
Using the information gathered so far for a keyword search, we found a similar video uploaded by the UP Tak YouTube channel on December 21, 2019. The caption associated with the video stated that it was a Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
A similar video was also uploaded by Live Hindustan on December 20, 2019. It was titled, ‘Gorakhpur: Two injured in stone pelting, lathi charge during protest against CAA’. We compared the screenshot of the viral video with the above video and found them to be from the same location.
A red board on the corner of the street can be seen in both videos. The video caption stated that the incident was shot at Nakhas Chawk, Gorakhpur. Using this address+, we found the same area where the video was captured on Google Maps
Hence, we conclude that the viral video is old and unrelated to the recent Sambhal violence.
