An old video showing a cop being thrashed by locals in Gujarat is viral on social media with false captions claiming that the incident is from Hyderabad and the cop was beaten by Muslims when he tried to stop them from flouting lockdown guidelines.
BOOM found that the original incident is from Gujarat and the policeman was beaten by locals after he misbehaved with them in a reported drunken stupor.
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The video shows a group of people brutally assaulting a uniformed policeman with sticks. A caption with the viral video reads 'Hyderabad hafeezpet muslims beating police. Bangaru telangana. NRC must be implemented'.
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BOOM also received the video for verification on its WhatsApp helpline number along with a message which reads 'Muslims thrashing police in Hyderabad for objecting them roaming during lockdown'.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on a key frame of the viral video and found a news report sharing the same clip. The video was uploaded on the YouTube channel of TV9 Gujarati on October 21, 2020. It is titled 'Drunk police constable manhandled for misbehaving with people in Chandlodiya. Ahmedabad'.
BOOM also found a report published in Times of India on October 22, 2020. The report mentioned that the cop had been identified as Sunilsinh Chauhan, a resident of Danilimda Police Lines who was posted at Sola police station.
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The report quoted local eyewitness account and mentioned that Chauhan was at a pan shop where he threatened some locals to stay away from him. A verbal altercation ensued and the cop ended up slapping a man. This led to a brutal attack on the cop by a crowd of locals.
Police later filed two FIRs, one against six people including a minor for assaulting the cop, and another against the cop for prohibition offence.
BOOM also found a tweet from the official handle of Cyberabad police on May 29, 2021.