A video showing Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) flags being waived from inside a Telangana Police vehicle, is circulating online with a false claim that it shows the police openly expressing their support for the party.
BOOM spoke to Rachakonda Police, whose vehicle can be seen in the viral video. The police refuted the claim and said they had detained BJP workers who were protesting against a hike in electricity prices. The video was shot when the BJP workers were being taken to the police station in a police car. The workers began waving the party flag whilst sitting inside the police car.
The video is being shared with the caption, "BJP flags hoisting on Telangana State Rachakonda police car .. Why did the police do this? Does police also have interest in politics?"
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The same video is being shared on Facebook with the misleading claim.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is from Rachakonda, Telangana after the police had detained BJP workers protesting against a hike in electricity prices and were being taken in the police vehicle to the police station with them waving party flags.
Taking a hint from 'Rachakonda Police' written on the police vehicle, we ran a relevant keyword search on YouTube with 'bjp, flags, police, vehicle' and found the same video was uploaded by Zee Telugu News on March 27, 2022, stating that BJP leaders were raising their party flags in the vehicle after they were detained by the police.
"Detained BJP workers inside police vehicle waived party flag while being taken to the police station": Rachakonda Police
BOOM then reached out to Rachakonda Police who denied the claim that police were waiving BJP flags.
"This incident is around 10 days old, BJP workers were protesting against hike in electricity prices and were detained by the police and being transported to the police station when the viral video was taken. The people seen sitting inside the vehicle are party workers who were waving their party flag. We have registered a case against those sharing the video with the false claim," an officer from the Rachakonda Police Control Room told BOOM.