Fact-Check: Old, Unrelated Video Shared As Recent Visuals From Sambhal Violence

This video is from 2019 when police clamped down on CAA protestors who pelted stones at them in Gorakhpur.

A video showing police personnel thrashing people with sticks is being shared on social media with a claim that the visuals are from the recent violence in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.

• The video dates back to 2019, when the police in Gorakhpur, UP clashed with people protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

What we found: After splitting the video into various screenshots and running a Google reverse image, we found a YouTube video posted by Live Hindustan, a Hindi news website, on 20 December 2019.

• The report said that the police employed tear gas and turned to lathi charges to control the crowd at Nakhas Chowk in Gorakhpur during the anti-CAA demonstration.

• You can see the visuals of the viral video from 0:57 seconds.

• ETV Bharat also reported on the incident which stated that police used force against the demonstrators to disperse the gathering.

• The incident took place after worshippers leaving the mosque after Friday prayers protested against the CAA and gathered in the Nakhas area.

• We also checked the location on Google Maps and found a spot which matched one of the shops visible in the viral video.

The Quint has previously debunked this video in 2021 and 2022, when it was being shared as one from Jammu and Kashmir and Kanpur, respectively.

What happened in Sambhal?: Five Muslim men were killed in the shooting that occurred in Sambhal after the community protested a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, which a civil court ordered in response to a petition saying the mosque was once the location of the Harihar temple.

• Over 2,500 unidentified individuals, with at least 500 of them being minors, have been identified in the FIR and accused of serious offenses.

• Sambhal's Member of Parliament from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Zia ur Rahman Barq, has been mentioned in a complaint filed at Ekta Chowki police station. Sohail Iqbal, the son of Sambhal MLA and SP leader Iqbal Mehmood, has also been listed in the FIR.

• Both leaders are facing allegations of provoking violence, reported The Quint.

Conclusion: An old and unrelated video has been falsely shared as recent visuals from Sambhal violence.

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