An old video showing two persons firing tracer rounds from their high-tech weapons into the darkness of the night is being peddled falsely linking it to the ongoing clashes in the North Eastern state of Manipur.
BOOM found that the same video has been online since at least 2020 and has no connection to the ongoing crisis in Manipur.
Manipur has been rocked by violent clashes in Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Imphal districts. The clashes took place after a solidarity march by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) protesting against the demand to include the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. As per news reports, both people from Kuki tribe and Meitei community blamed each other for the violence.
Manipur authorities have decided to restrict internet access and impose Section 144 in the state.
Against this backdrop, a short video clip showing two men firing tracer rounds at night is being shared.
The caption with the video claims, "Here is a video of Kuki people firing’s shots at Meitei people .Is this what you guys called a peace rally and trying to be the victim".
Click here to view the tweet.
Fact Check
BOOM found that the two men are firing tracer rounds or rounds that carry a pyrotechnic chemical that light up when fired, in the video.
We found the same video tweeted by a Twitter account that posts about guns.
Click here to view the tweet.
We also broke the video into key frames and ran a reverse image search and found an Instagram post from July 5, 2020, carrying the same video.
Click here to view the post.
The video was uploaded with multiple hashtags related to gaming such as Call Of Duty, GTA Online, Fortnite etc. We also noticed that the Instagram profile mentioned itself as a video creator and added a link to gaming YouTube channel named Threatty on its bio.
Taking a cue, we went through the YouTube channel and found several gaming videos were uploaded on it. An excerpt from the description with the YouTube channel reads, "Die-hard PC Gamer, History enthusiast, Finnish army reservist (served in 2011). I aim to provide top quality original content of the games I play."
It was not immediately clear whether the clip shows actual footage or whether it is part of a video game.
However, BOOM was able to confirm that the video is old and not connected to the recent violence in Manipur.