A video of a demolition drive of illegal encroachments in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh is viral with a communal spin on social media.
The video shows uniformed personnel standing guard as an entire settlement can be seen razed; an excavator can be seen demolishing houses adjacent to the road. The claim with the video states that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered the evacuation of residents from an area called Gafoor Basti, an illegally occupied slum, whose residents had raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans in the past.
BOOM found that the video shows a demolition drive against illegal encroachment of government land near Hari Fatak on Indore Road. Ujjain Superintendent of Police, Satyendra Shukla dismissed the claim of 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans being raised in the area which was later demolished.
The video has been shared as an aftermath of allegations of pro-Pakistan slogans being raised at Geeta Colony area in Ujjain on the night of August 19 during the Muharram processions. BOOM has not independently verified the same. According to reports, police had invoked the National Security Act against 4 and 10 people were arrested for allegedly raising these slogans.
Dr Richa Rajpoot, social media head of Uttar Pradesh Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha shared the video on Twitter with a caption in Hindi which reads, "Residents of Gafoor Basti in Ujjain who raised the slogan "Pakistan Zindabad" Shivraj Singh's Government evacuated all illegal encroachers. Jai Hind."
Click here to see the archived tweet.
(Original caption in Hindi: उज्जैन में जिस गफूर बस्ती के लोगो ने पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद का नारा लगाया था,, शिवराज सरकार @ChouhanShivraj ने पूरी अवैध बस्ती खाली करवा दी. जय हिंद)
Viral on Facebook and YouTube
The viral video was shared widely on Facebook with same claims. See two posts here and here.
The video is viral on YouTube as well.
Searching with keywords we found several media reports about the de-encroachment action. Hindi news outlets and web portals such as Dainik Bhaskar, Agniban and Dainik Avantika reported on the incident. Media reports stated that the district administration removed the structures built illegally on Friday (August 27) morning.
According to the reports, more than 200 garages, auto parts' shops and transport businesses had sprung up around Hari Fatak Bridge and Mannat Garden in Ujjain. The district administration and the police team had started the work of removing the illegal constructions from the morning.
Below is a video report published on August 27, 2021 by a local channel, Siti 24 Ujjain,
BOOM traced the location of the demolition video on Google Maps. At 1:15 timestamp the President Hotel on Indore Road, near Hari Fatak Bridge can be seen in the video.
BOOM spoke to the owner of Abdul Auto Garage, located close to Hari Fatak Bridge. He said, "Since yesterday (August 27) the administration has started the demolition drive. There were more than 200 shops approximately which were demolished."
Additionally, we spoke to station in-charge of Jiwajiganj Police in Ujjain, who clarified that the incident of sloganeering of 'Pakistan Zindabad' happened in Geeta Colony.
BOOM reached out to Ujjain Superintendent of Police Satyendra Kumar Shukla, who rubbished the viral claim and confirmed to us that both the cases are separate and are not related to each other. Shukla told BOOM, "So far, 15 people have been booked under 124 (A) and 153 in action regarding the sloganeering. On the other hand, the viral video shows demolition of illegal land encroachment . These two cases are completely different separate from each other."