An undated video showing security forces personnel undergoing what seems to be training to withstand tear gas is being shared on social media with false claims that the clip shows a caste-based atrocity carried out by the Indian Army.
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The 45-second-long video shows a group of men dressed in camouflage huddled on the ground outdoors while at least two persons release smoke from canisters. The men endure the smoke for a few seconds before they start coughing incessantly.
A person can be heard speaking in Hindi in the background as the video is being recorded. He says, "close your nose. see it's rising up, it's rising up. Hey, don't get up." At this point, another person says, "Who's this, who's this? Who's running away?" A melee of voices can be heard saying 'don't get up' and 'don't open now, open when they try to run. Open now'.
Soon after, another canister of gas is opened and a person with 'Commando' written at the back of his jumper, runs around the group with thick plumes of smoke coming out of the can.
A caption with the viral video reads 'Indian army conducts chemical attack drill - no protective equipment, no decontamination measures, inhuman! Are these soldiers the lower caste members in India?'
The viral video can be seen below and its archived versions can be accessed here and here.
The same video has been shared from another Twitter handle with the claim 'This is now Nepali Gorkha soldiers are treated by the Indian Army. They are known as the bravest warriors but they are treated as lower caste soldiers. This is a chemical attack drill without any protective equipment. It can cause permanent damage.'
The tweet has been quote-tweeted from a Nepalese Twitter handle too.
The video has been shared on Facebook with similar claim (archive).
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Fact Check
A reverse image search on several frames of the video did not yield any result. We then checked the comments on the tweet and saw several Twitter users suggesting it to be a tear gas training for commandos.
The jumper or pullover of one of the persons holding the can of gas also has 'Commando' written on its back.
Taking cue, we did a keyword search with 'Commando tear gas training' and found another video quite similar to the viral one. The headline of the clip, uploaded on YouTube on September 1, 2019, reads 'NSG Commando Training by Tear gas'.
Watch the video below.
The video shows a group of men in army overalls with serial numbers on their backs being subjected to similar gas treatment as shown in the viral video. A person in the video can be heard directing the men to 'look and close their nose' and 'not to run'.
A source within the Indian Army who did not wish to be named confirmed the video looks like a drill. "Looks like a training video to me. Not clear whether Army or any other Indian Force. Implied message surely malicious," he told BOOM. When asked whether the men in the viral clip were Indian soldiers, he said, "Yes. Most likely."
We also found a video uploaded on YouTube on July 4, 2018 which shows a similar training. The description of the video reads 'NSG black cat commando traning {tear gas}'.
Watch the video below.
The video shows several men with serial number attached on their backs being subjected to a gas. Commandos in black overall can be heard giving orders to 'stay down' and 'keep breathing'. Once in a while, the men are referred as 'commandos' by the trainers.
BOOM could not independently verify the source and location of the viral video. We also cannot confirm whether the video shows Indian Army soldiers. However, at least two other videos showing Indian soldiers under similar conditions suggest that it is part of a training regimen.
