An obscure video showing a few properties on fire, while surrounded with people, is viral on social media with the claim that it shows the shop of a Hindu owner in Bangladesh which was torched by Muslims during the ongoing regime change in the country. These posts also claimed that an individual named Rajan Chandra was targeted for being Hindu.
BOOM found these claims to be false; our fact-check reveals that the video shows an incident of fire that happened in Lakshmipur's village market on July 11, 2024, burning down shops owned by both Hindu and Muslim owners. Furthermore, we were unable to find the mention of any communal angle, or of any individual named Rajan Chandra in local news reports on the incident.
Bangladesh had slid into massive unrest and political chaos after Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country surreptitiously on August 5. Reports of violence against the minorities have surfaced amidst massive law and order breakdown, vandalism, looting and killings of members of the previous regime of Awami League. Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged economist and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took charge as the head of Bangladesh's interim government on August 8, to ensure safety of Hindus and other minorities.
Right-leaning channel Sudarshan News posted the video on X, with a Hindi caption, which translates to English as, "Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh... In Laxmipur, the shop of a Hindu shopkeeper, Rajan Chandra, has been burnt to ashes... Rajan Chandra and his family are in agony and wailing as their shop, their only source of livelihood, burns to ashes..."
Click here to view an archive of the above tweet. Sudharshan News also shared the exact same video with the same caption on Facebook, which can be viewed here.
The video was further shared by many other users on X and Facebook, which an be viewed here, here, here and here.
Fact Check
BOOM did a few relevant keyword searches in Bangla and English, and came across news reports of incident of fire engulfing a few shops at Moju Chowdhury Hat in Bangladesh's Lakshmipur village.
A report by Bonik Barta stated that 15 shops were burnt, with local MP Nur Uddin Chowdhury Nayan assuring the victims that they will be compensated for their losses.
Another report by Bangla News 24 added, "Amjad Hossain Apu, owner of Apu Store, Babul Mia, owner of Omar Store, said that their grocery store's goods worth Tk 23 lakh were burnt in the fire." According to Shomoy Sangbad some of the names of the shop that were burnt were "Abdul Mannan Motor Parts, Rakib Tyres, Sourav Store, Gas Cylinders, Electronics". The names indicate that several of the shop owners affected were Muslim.
BOOM further found multiple clips posted by users of the fire, which showed start similarity with the viral video.
A comparison of keyframes of a video of the Moju Chowdhury Hat fire posted by YouTube user "Uk sifat 007" and channel "Bengali story" showed stark similarities in some of the shops that could be seen, thus confirming that the it showed the exact same incident.
