Old and Unrelated Video Shared Falsely in Relation with Recent Religious Sloganeering in Saharanpur

The viral video dates back to 2020 during the first phase of COVID-19 lockdown. The video shows police retaliating when attacked by a mob while enforcing lockdown restrictions in Bareilly.

A video showing police assaulting people is widely circulating on social media with the claim that Uttar Pradesh police is beating up Muslim men who were shouting slogans after offering Namaaz in Saharanpur. This video is circulating on social media amidst reports of communal violence in different parts of India.

The caption of the video mentions, “Yesterday Babaji turned Saharanpur into Shimla. All the heat has gone. After the Alvida Namaz, some people got very angry and started raising slogans. Then see how Baba turned Saharanpur to Shimla.”

(Hindi: कल बाबाजी सहारनपुर को शिमला बना दिये थे। सारी गर्मी निकल गयी थी। अलविदा की नमाज के बाद कुछ लोगों को ज्यादा गर्मी लग गई, लग गए नारे लगाने। फिर बाबा ने सहारनपुर को शिमला कैसे बनाया देख लीजिए।)

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Fact Check– 

We started our investigation by running a keyword search on Google, which led us to a news report published by the Times of India on 6 April 2020. According to the information given in the video, the incident is from Bareily, Uttar Pradesh. The police force had asked about 20 people flouting prohibitory orders to disperse and the crowd instead of listening attacked the police. Due to this, many cops sustained injuries.

According to News18 India, mob attacked the police who went ask the people to follow the lockdown rules during the first phase of COVID-19 lockdown in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. An IPS officer was injured in the attack.

What happened in Saharanpur after Namaz recently?

We found several social media users claiming that there were sloganeering heard after the Alvida Namaz in Saharanpur. Fact Crescendo reached out to SSP Akash Tomar who confirmed to us that there were few slogans made after the media questioned the people coming out from the masjid after the Alvida Namaz. The situation is under control. He told us that the incident is a recent one but the viral video has no relation with the incident. He has also clarified the same on Twitter from Saharanpur Police’s account.

Conclusion-  Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be Partly False. The viral video has no relation with the recent sloganeering that took place in Saharanpur after the Alvida Namaz. The viral video dates back to 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown. The police retaliated when they were attacked while enforcing the lockdown in Bareilly.