An old video showing a montage of constructions demolished and razed to the ground because of illegal encroachment in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich is circulating with claims linking it to the recent violence where a youth was shot dead.
BOOM found that the video predates the Bahraich violence where a youth named Ram Gopal Mishra was shot dead by a mob on October 14, 2024. The demolition drive in Bahraich's Wazirganj area was carried out by the district administration to erase illegal constructions with bulldozers on September 25, 2024, based on the order of the High Court.
The video was shared by several users on X with the caption, "Those who killed Gopal see carefully. This is Baba's justice. Bahraich's Wazirganj became Gaza. The bulldozer will roam the streets from whereever there will be stones (hurled). The houses of those who killed Gopal have been razed to the ground."
Click here to view an archive of the X post.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Sadhvi Prachi also shared the video on Facebook with the same claim. (Archive link of the post)
Fact Check: Video from September
We ran a reverse image search on few of the keyframes of the video and found the same video uploaded on September 26, 2024 on YouTube. The video is captioned as "Wazirganj Bazar, district, Bahraich."
We then searched with related keywords and found a report related to the incident from September 25, 2024 on Jagran.com.
According to the news report, 23 houses and shops were demolished with bulldozers in Sarai Jagna Wazirganj, in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district. The action was taken against illegal occupation by the local district administration and was result of a High Court order.
Aaj Tak further reported on September 25, 2024, that many poor families were left homeless following the demolition drive. The report quoted a woman Kulsum Idrisi as saying, "It would have been better if they took our lives. We don't know how we feed ourselves and now how will we build our houses."
Read reports by NDTV, ABP and News18 Hindi.
Bahraich Police also denied the claim on X and called out the X post. According to the X post of Bahraich Police, the incident of demolition was carried out after a court order. An excerpt reads, "This was an anti-encroachment drive which was conducted in Fakharpur area of district Bahraich on 25.09.24. These visuals are being misleadingly linked by you to the recent Maharajganj Bahraich incident. Legal action will be taken against disturbing harmony and law and order in the district through such misleading posts."
Ram Gopal Mishra's death and Bahraich violence
Violence erupted in Maharajganj area of Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh on October 13 and 14. During Durga idol immersion process on October 13, clashes broke out between two communities and Mishra was shot dead. Following Mishra's death, a mob went on a rampage and took to the streets, leading to violence in Maharajganj and some adjoining areas. The police have so far arrested 112 people in connection with the case. A case has also been registered against 1,304 people at Hardi and Nagar Kotwali police stations. On October 17, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested Abdul Hameed, his son Mohammed Sarfaraz, Mohammad Faheem, Mohammad Talim and Mohammad Afzal in the murder case.
After the death of Ram Gopal Mishra in the Bahraich violence on October 13, 2024, the Publick Works Department had issued notices to demolish the houses of 23 people. However, on October 20, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has banned the bulldozer action of the Uttar Pradesh government. The high court has given all the 23 people 15 days to present their case.