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| - Fact Check: Old protest images shared as photos of Bengal violence
India Today's Anti Fake News War Room has found that the viral images are around 7-9 years old and are not from Bengal.
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India Today Fact Check
Viral images are old and not from Bengal.
Bengal has seen bouts of violence since the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Amid such incidents, a collage of two pictures depicting violence has gone viral on social media. The claim is that these photos are from West Bengal where BJP workers were damaging vehicles and pelting stones.
Facebook page "Pol Khol" upload the post with a Hindi caption that roughly translates into: "These are the innocent BJP workers who are holding a peaceful road show in Bengal following the instructions of Amit Shah. (Ye hain BJP ke sidhe shadhe bhole bhale karyakarta jo ek swachh chhavi wale neta Amit Shah ke ishaare par shantipoorna tarike se Bengal main road show kar rahe hain.)"
India Today's Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral images are around 7-9 years old and are not from Bengal. The archived version of the post can be seen here.
At the time of filing this story, the post was already shared by more than 1,400 users.
What AFWA found:
Photo 1:
In this image, a man can be seen breaking the front pane of a truck with a stick, whereas a man standing behind him is holding a BJP flag. On doing a reverse search, we found the image was taken in 2012 in Jamshedpur. The photo was taken during a nationwide strike to protest a steep hike in petrol prices.
We found that the viral photo was part of a photo story published by Hindustan Times on May 31, 2012. The caption with the photo reads: "BJP workers damage a vehicle during Bharat Bandh called to protest against the hike in petrol prices in Jamshedpur. PTI photo."
Photo 2:
A violent mob can be seen in this image with stones scattered on the road. On the top left of the image, there is a hoarding on which "Setu Gomti Tat" is written along with the photo of Dr Dinesh Sharma, current deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
On the right side of the image, "vishaal pradarshan" can be seen written on a hoarding. These posters were put up in Lucknow. The man in the front wearing a white kurta-pajama is BJP youth wing leader Abhijat Mishr.
"The photo was clicked back in 2010 when BJP workers were protesting against inflation. Former BJP president Rajnath Singh had sustained minor injuries. Police had fired tear gas shells at protesters," Abhijat told India Today.
A news article published on February 25, 2010, in The Hindu confirmed the incident.
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