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| - Fact Check: Did Assam cops thrash Muslims for demanding separate nation? 2020 UP video shared with false claims
The video was from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district and was about two years old. The narrative of carrying out a march for a separate nation is also false.
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India Today Fact Check
This video is not from Assam, but Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district. In April 2020, during the first phase of the national lockdown, cops retaliated after villagers allegedly attacked them over Covid-19 restrictions.
A video allegedly showing Assam Police beating Muslims for demanding a separate nation went viral on social media. The video showed cops chasing and arresting men and even beating them with lathis.
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pic.twitter.com/E6pRbru3LB — Dr.RajlaxmiSaini (@DRajlaxmisaini) May 2, 2022
Facebook and Twitter users shared this video with the claim that Muslims organised a march in Assam demanding a separate country which led to cops taking action.
Archived versions of the posts can be seen here and here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found this claim was untrue. The video was from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district and was about two years old. The narrative of carrying out a march for a separate nation is also false.
AFWA Probe
A reverse search of keyframes of the video led us to a YouTube video from April 6, 2020, uploaded to "Bareilly Ki Awaaz". The video contained the footage seen in the viral video. It, however, said the incident was from Bareilly.
The video description said that when cops approached a village, asking people to follow Covid-19 norms, locals attacked them and an IPS officer was injured in the process.
Further searches led us to a Punjab Kesari report from April 07, 2020, that contained a screengrab from the viral video. The report said 42 people were arrested after the aforementioned attack.
Per the report, among the injured was IPS officer Abhishek Verma. They were all hospitalised. Additionally, a case was registered against 150 people who allegedly tried to set a police station on fire.
A News18 report from April 6, 2020, noted that the cops were forced to lathi-charge people in self-defence after a mob of more than 200 started pelting stones at them.
It said that when cops arrived to enforce Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, asking everyone to remain inside closed doors, some people refused. This soon escalated into a mob that attacked the police.
While searching, we also found the same video was also circulated with claims that in UP's Saharanpur, Muslims were thrashed by the police for allegedly raising slogans following the Alvida Jumma prayers.
However, it is clear that the video is neither from Assam nor from UP’s Saharanpur. It’s a 2020 video from Bareilly.
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