A scripted video of a man being caught injecting chemicals in watermelons has surfaced as a real incident, with users falsely linking it to Ramadan.
BOOM found that the video was created by the YouTube channel The Social Junction to raise awareness about food adulteration.
The viral video shows police apprehending a man identified as one Ayush Verma, who confesses to using artificial colours in watermelons.
A Facebook user share the video and wrote, "Save the lives of Muslims in Ramadan, earn good deeds by sharing this video. While shopping for Iftar, one mistake could lead to a disaster for everyone."
(Original Text in Hindi: रमजान में मुसलमानों की जान बचाए, इस वीडियो को शेयर कर नेकी कमाए, रमजान में इफ़्तारी की करते हुए खरीददारी, आपकी एक गलती से हो सकती है सभी की छुट्टी.)
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The video is also being shared on X with a similar false claim.
Fact Check
We observed that the video has a watermark 'Team Rising Falcon'. Taking a cue, BOOM was able to find the X handle that shared the same video. On March 2, the user shared the video with the caption: "Save the lives of Muslims in Ramadan, earn goodness by sharing this video. While shopping for Iftar, one mistake could lead to a disaster for everyone."
A reverse image search of the video's keyframe led us to an India Today report from May 2024 carrying a similar video. According to the report, the video was created by The Social Junction YouTube channel to raise awareness about watermelon adulteration. It shows chemicals being injected into a watermelon.
We found that the young man seen in the report is also present in the viral video, wearing a handkerchief over his mouth. Additionally, the background also matches in both videos.
Further exploration of The Social Junction YouTube channel led us to the original video, uploaded on April 29, 2024. In this, the young man identifies himself as Ayush Verma.
The original video does not contain the voiceover heard in the viral clip, indicating that a separate audio track was added to peddle a communal narrative.
A disclaimer appears at the 28-second mark, stating: "The video is a complete fiction. All the events in the video are scripted and made for awareness purposes only..."
The Social Junction’s channel features multiple scripted videos about food adulteration, intended to educate its viewers.