A video is being widely shared on social media in which a police official can be seen collapsing on stage while Kerala governor Rajendra Arlekar was giving a speech.
The video is shared with a caption suggesting that a police commissioner died on stage due to a heart attack during the Republic Day parade.
A social media user shared the video with text that reads, “Police officer who came on stage died of heart attack. City police commissioner collapse during the governor’s speech at the Republic Day parade.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is misleading. The police officer collapsed due to heatstroke, not due to a heart attack.
On a Google reverse image search, we found the screenshot of the viral video was shared by Kalinga TV on January 29.
According to the report, commissioner Thomson Jose of Thiruvananthapuram fainted from heatstroke on January 26 during Kerala’s Republic Day celebrations as governor Rajendra Arlekar delivered his speech. He received prompt medical attention, was hospitalised briefly and fortunately regained consciousness and remained stable.
Taking a hint, we searched with appropriate keywords and found a report published by United News of India on January 26.
According to the report, Thiruvananthapuram City Police commissioner Thomas Jose collapsed while Kerala governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar was delivering the Republic Day speech. Following the incident, he was shifted to an ambulance and was given first aid, after which he recovered.
The incident was also reported by another news channel.
No report stated that the police officer has passed away. Hence, we can suggest that the viral claim is false.
