A set of photos from Sri Lanka of anti-government protesters storming then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s palace in July 2022, are being shared falsely linked to the recent looting and vandalism of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's official residence in Dhaka following her resignation and departure from the country.
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on August 5, 2024, after weeks of anti-government protests, bringing an end to her more than two decades in power. The 76-year-old has fled the country and is currently in India. Thousands of protesters stormed her official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family. Visuals of mobs ransacking and rummaging through items at her residence flooded social media on Monday.
Several photos showed protesters parading the streets holding up personal belongings of Hasina. However, not all visuals circulating online are recent or from Bangladesh.
A photo of three men relaxing on a bed is being shared on X with the caption, "Scenes from Shiekh Hasina’s bedroom"
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Another photo of a group of people swimming and standing beside a swimming pool is being shared with the caption on X, "This is actually the funniest picture to come out of Bangladesh today - protesters swimming in dictator Sheikh Hasina’s swimming pool at her residence after she fled the country!! Exactly how the Sri Lankans did it in 2022"
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral photos are from Sri Lanka when protesters had stormed then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s palace in July 2022. These photos are not linked to the recent vandalism of Sheikh Hasina's residence in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Sri Lankan protesters had then occupied key government buildings and residences following an uprising that forced the president to flee the country and eventually resign.
Photo 1: Photo of protesters in the bedroom
We ran a reverse image search using Google which showed that the viral photo dates back to July 2022, when protesters in Sri Lanka had stormed and vandalised president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s palace.
The same photo can be seen in the photo report by Reuters from July 2022 below:
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Photo 2: Photo of protesters in the swimming pool
We ran a reverse image search using Google Lens, and the search results showed that the viral photo dates back to July 2022, when protesters in Sir Lanka had stormed the then President Rajapaksa’s palace and entered the swimming pool clicking selfies and taking a swim inside it.
We found footage that matches the viral photo and photos of the same swimming pool occupied by the same protesters. This can be seen in the below visuals from 2022.
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In this below Voice of America news also we can see visuals of the same swimming pool.