Video Shows Man Killed in Bangladesh During Durga Puja? No, It's an Old Incident

The video showing a murder on the streets of Bangladesh was an old one from May.

Fact-check | An old video showing a man being hacked to death by two individuals has been falsely linked with the recent incidents of communal violence in Bangladesh.

(Photo: The Quint)

(Editor's note: The story was first published on 20 October 2021 and is being republished from The Quint's archives in the light of the video resurfacing with a claim that it is from Delhi's Jahangirpuri, where violence broke out on 16 April.)

A gruesome video showing a man being hacked to death by two men has been shared by several social media users with a claim that it shows the killing of a Bangladeshi Hindu man called Jatan Saha.

Saha was reportedly murdered outside a temple at Noakhali as incidents of communal violence erupted in the country amid the Durga Puja celebrations following social media posts over alleged desecration of the Holy Quran.

However, we found that video which is being shared as 'Saha's murder' was from an incident in May where a trader called Shahinuddin was killed by some miscreants over a property dispute. The murder, that happened in the capital city of Dhaka, was widely reported in Bangladeshi media and the accused in the case have been arrested.

CLAIM

People who shared the video viral video claimed that the video showed Saha being "killed by Islamists in Bangladesh". In one of the tweets carrying the video, a floating text can be seen which says "Noakhali incident is true".

(Note: We have refrained from using the visuals or any links to it in the story due to its graphic nature.)

A post with the viral video.

(Photo: Twitter/Screenshot)

Several other social media users shared the video with the same claim.

BJP general secretary for Bongaon Organisational district, Debdas Mondal, also shared the video on his Twitter profile.

BJP general secretary for Bongaon Organisational district Debdas Mondal's post. 

(Photo: Twitter/Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

On going through the comments on these posts, we found a comment that said that the video was from the 'Shahinuddin murder case'.

A comment under Mondal's post. 

(Photo: Twitter/Screenshot)

We then looked up "Shahinuddin murder case" on Google and found a report published in a Bangladeshi news portal called Daily Bangladesh, which carried the screenshots from the video. The report was published on 20 May 2021 and talked about the murder of a Dhaka-based trader called Shahinuddin that took place on 16 May.

A link to the story can be found here.

(Photo: Daily Bangladesh/Screenshot)

According to reports in several Bangladeshi news outlets, the trader was killed by men who were hired by a former lawmaker called MA Awal.

The report further stated Awal and the victim had a dispute over a piece of property since 2004 and upon failing to acquire it, Awal planned Shahinuddin's murder. The murders and the former MLA have all been arrested by the police.

However, it is true that Jatan Saha, a resident of Cumilla's Titas upazila in Bangladesh, was killed by a mob in Noakhali on 15 October.

Three others were also killed in incidents of communal violence in the country which began following social media posts about the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran at a Durga Puja mandap in Comilla. Several Hindu homes and temples were targeted and some were burnt down.

But this is an old video which is being shared with a false claim that it shows Saha's murder, while clearly it is that of an old incident.

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