A video showing police taking a man into custody is viral on social media with a false claim that it shows Kashmir police arresting local leaders for supporting terrorists after the recent terror attack in Pahalgam.
However, BOOM found that the video is actually from November 2024. It was shot in Katra, Jammu, where police detained local and labor union leaders who were protesting against a proposed ropeway project.
The video has surfaced in the wake of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam’s Baisaran Valley, which killed 27 people and injured many others.
It is viral on X with the caption in Hindi claiming, “These are local leaders of Kashmir, who are being arrested and taken away for supporting the terrorists.”
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Fact-check
BOOM broke the video into keyframes and ran a reverse image search on them using Google Lens which led us to a YouTube video posted on November 27, 2024, by the channel Jammu Links News. The description stated that two trade union leaders were arrested in Katra, Jammu, during a protest against a proposed ropeway project to the Vaishno Devi temple. A clash had broken out between local traders and the police during the protest.
According to The Hindu, the ropeway is planned between Tarakot Marg and Sanjhi Chhat, with an estimated cost of ₹250 crore. Local traders opposed the project, and the protest turned violent. The police later registered two FIRs and detained at least four people.
Those detained reportedly included Bhupinder Singh Jamwal and Sohan Chand, both leaders of the Mazdoor Union Katra. Bhupinder Singh had also contested assembly elections from the Vaishno Devi seat and led an association of pony and palanquin operators.
News reports from Greater Kashmir stated that protesters pelted stones at police during the clash, and some shopkeepers assaulted officers. The police then conducted raids across the town and arrested the union leaders.
Other news outlets like Rising Kashmir also covered the incident, confirming that the arrests were related to the protest—not the Pahalgam terror attack, as falsely claimed in the viral posts.