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| - Fact Check: Mahua Moitra DIDN'T assault cop after 'unparliamentary language' row, this clip is from 2018
A video of TMC leader Mahua Moitra in a scuffle with a woman police officer has gone viral, with the claim that the incident happened after her controversial parliamentary speech. India Today's AFWA found the video to be old.
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India Today Fact Check
This video is from August 2018 when Moitra got in a scuffle with a cop at an airport in Silchar, Assam.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra recently drew flak for using an expletive during the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha on February 7. Following her speech, in which she attacked the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over the Adani-Hindenburg row, angry exchanges between the BJP and TMC members escalated to the use of “unparliamentary language” by Moitra. Moitra, however, has refused to apologise for her remark, which has now been expunged from the records.
Following this, a video showing Moitra in a scuffle with a lady police officer started making the rounds on social media. Those sharing it claimed that this incident took place after her controversial parliamentary speech. Archives of these posts can be found here and here.
AFWA found that the video of Moitra manhandling a lady cop is from a five-year-old incident.
AFWA Probe
A keyword search on Google about a scuffle between the TMC MP and a police officer led us to a tweet from the ANI News from August 2018, carrying the 11-second-long clip in question. The caption stated that the video showed Moitra assaulting a lady constable who tried to restrain her after TMC leaders were stopped at Silchar Airport in Assam. It further stated that the police constable sustained injuries during this scuffle.
According to another report from the time, Moitra was part of an eight-member delegation sent by the TMC on a two-day visit. They were there to assess the situation in Assam and campaign against the final draft of the National Register of Citizenship, which reportedly left out over 40 lakh names.
The delegation, however, was stopped by security forces at the airport on August 2, 2018. They were reportedly prohibited from visiting people or addressing any gathering as Section 144 under the CrPC was imposed in the district. Following this, TMC members engaged in a scuffle with police officials and the viral video of Moitra tackling a female cop shows that. India Today interviewed Moitra post the incident, which can be seen below.
Two Assam police women constables were reportedly injured in this incident, one of whom lodged an FIR against TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Moitra. The TMC delegation, on the other hand, lodged a police complaint against the then Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal, alleging “manhandling” and “illegal detention” by Assam Police officials.
Thus, it’s clear that a video showing a five-year-old incident is being falsely shared as recent in the backdrop of Moitra’s recent parliamentary controversy.
(Written by Sanjana Saxena)
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