Explosives Found at Ahmednagar Bus Stand? No, It’s a Mock Drill
While the video in circulation is real, it is being circulated with a false claim.
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CLAIM
A video is being circulated on social media, which shows a bus stand where several cops have gathered. In the video, the police seem to be on high alert and eventually they bring out two men, who are handcuffed and put them in a police vehicle. Some civilians can be seen taking videos of the men who have clearly been detained by the forces.
The claim with the video is a message in Hindi which goes: अहमदनगर माळीवाडा बस स्टँडवर स्फोटके व चार जण पथकाच्या ताब्यात. (Explosives have been found and four persons have been detained at Ahmednagar’s Maliwada bus stand)
One of our readers sent The Quint a query about this video.
WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
While the video is not manipulated in any way, it does not show a real incident where explosives were found at the bus stand and four person were detained. It actually shows a mock drill by Ahmednagar police.
WHAT WE FOUND
The Quint found that different versions of the video were present on YouTube.
The video was also being shared on Twitter with the same claim.
It was also being shared on Facebook.
We spoke to the Ahmednagar Police Local Crime Branch in order to get clarity about the video doing the rounds.
Speaking to The Quint, Machhindra Barde, a constable at the station identified the video as being of Ahmednagar’s Maliwada bus stand, but said that it actually showed a mock drill being undertaken by the police.
He explained that the mock drill was carried out on Monday, 2 September, ahead of the Ganpati festival as well the upcoming Muharram festivities. “It was done to test preparedness in case of terrorism and if any bombs were found,” Barde said.
He also added that the Ahmednagar police as well as the Quick Reaction Team of the Reserve Control Police were the forces that could be seen in the video.
The Quint found that a video similar to the one we had received was uploaded on YouTube by News 24 Ahmednagar, a news channel. The headline of the video was “माळीवाडा बसस्थानकामध्ये बस मध्ये घुसलेले अतिरेकी?” ( Militants riding in bus in Maliwada bus station?)
Constable Barde identified this video as being from the same mock drill as well.
Therefore, while the video in circulation is real, it is being circulated with a false claim.
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