After the death of one person named Ram Gopal Mishra in the Bahraich violence on 13 October, social media became flooded with various posts regarding the incident. We noticed one such post where a video of demolished structures can be seen. Sharing the video on social media users are claiming it to be the demolished houses of the Bahraich violence accused. Sharing the video on Facebook, a user wrote,”🚨 Bahraich Turns Into Ground Zero for Justice—Yogi Unleashes His Wrath! 🚨
CM Yogi Adityanath is bringing the heat in Bahraich! No more safe havens for criminals and rioters—he’s turning the district into a no-nonsense zone. With bulldozer justice in full effect, Yogi Ji is delivering swift action, proving that law and order come first.
The message is loud and clear—there’s no room for chaos in Uttar Pradesh under Yogi’s leadership!”
Facebook Link | Archived Link.
However, as we investigated we came to know that the claim is misleading. The video predates the Bahraich violence. Here’s the fact check.
Fact Check
We started our investigation by taking some screenshots from the viral video and conducting a reverse image search. This led us to a YouTube video uploaded on 19 October 2024. The video is a 14-second excerpt of the same viral video.
The video description did not include anything, but the text overlay on the video reads, “गम में डूबा वजीरगंज, @altaf.studio”.
Moving forward, we searched for “altaf.studio”, which led us to an Instagram profile with the same name. The viral video was uploaded on that profile on 26 September 2024.
Instagram Link | Archived Link
The Bahraich violence took place on 13 October 2024. This makes it clear that the viral video predates the recent communal clashes in Bahraich.
Taking clues from the Instagram video, we conducted a relevant keyword search to find out about the incident in Wazirganj. Then we found a report published in the Deccan Herald on 26 September 2024. The report read, “The Bahraich district administration on Wednesday bulldozed 23 illegal structures in a village in Kaiserganj even as residents mounted a protest against the demolition ordered by the high court”.
A video report by TV9 can be seen below.
Further, we found a tweet from the Bahraich Police refuting the claims. The translation of the tweet reads, “The visuals shown are of a court-ordered anti-encroachment drive that was carried out in the Fakharpur area of Bahraich district on 25.09.24 and not of the incident that happened in Maharajganj a few days ago. Legal action will be taken against those who disturb the harmony and law and order by making misleading posts”.
This makes it clear that the viral video is not related to the recent Bahraich violence.
Conclusion
From our investigation, we can say that the claim is misleading. The viral video is of a court-ordered anti-encroachment drive that was carried out in the Fakharpur area of Bahraich district on 25.09.24. This has no link to the recent Bahraich violence.
