Fact-Check: Video Of a Man Being Shot Falsely Shared as One From Muzaffarnagar

This video is from June, when a man was shot by a criminal group called PCC in Brazil.

Fact-Check: This video is from Brazil and not Uttar Pradesh, India, as claimed.

(Source: The Quint) 

A gruesome video showing a man standing on an elevated platform and being shot is being shared as an incident from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.

Here is an example of the nature of claims that are viral on social media platforms.

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Note: We have refrained from adding any archives or links to the video due to its graphic nature.)

Is this true?: This incident is from Manaus in Brazil and not Muzaffarnagar, as claimed on social media.

• Lucas Pereira, 21 years old, was shot by Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) gunmen, while working at a commercial point on Penetração 2 street, Novo Aleixo neighbourhood, in the North zone of Manaus, Brazil in June 2024.

How did we find out?: At first, we divided the video into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• We came across few posts on X which featured the same video.

• One post by user ‘@baudorio,’ written in Portuguese stated that the incident was from Manaus, Brazil.

Here is a preview of the post. 

(Source: X/Screenshot)

• We, then, did a relevant keyword search and came across multiple news reports about this incident which happened in June.

• According to Portal Tucuma, a local news service from Brazil reported that a 21-year-old man named Lucas Pereira, also known as "Olhão," was shot and killed by PCC gunmen when he was working a job in the Novo Aleixo neighbourhood in Manaus, Brazil.

• The victim had a history of involvement with narcotics. The 4th Specialised Court for Crimes of Use and Trafficking of Narcotics (4th VECUTE) tried him in April on drug trafficking charges and had a court-issued open arrest warrant against him, according to a report by Diario Manauara, another local news outlet from Manaus.

• The report also stated that Lucas' murder was connected to a conflict between criminal organisations vying for control of the drug trade in the area.

• The report also stated that he was a member of the Comando Vermelho (CV), which is originally from Rio de Janeiro. The PCC, who killed him were originally from São Paulo.

• PCC is the largest prison gang in Brazil and also major exporter of cocaine.

Clarification by Muzaffarnagar police: The police posted on their official X account, clarifying that the viral video was not related to the Muzaffarnagar district.

• They also mentioned that legal action was being taken by registering a case against the person who shared the misleading video at Nai Mandi police station.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Muzaffarnagar Police/X/Screenshot) 

Conclusion: A video showing a man being shot is being falsely shared as one from Muzaffarnagar, UP.

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