False 'Terror' Angle Added to Video of AC Blast in Karnataka's Kalyan Jewellers

The Karnataka Police dismissed the communal angle added in the viral claims.

A video showing people rescuing several injured people from a smoke-filled jewellery shop is going viral on social media.

What are the claims?: Some users are claiming that this was an "Islamist attack" that took place in Karnataka.

• They are also blaming the Congress party governing the state currently.

• Others are claiming that this happened in Borivali, Mumbai.

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

What is the truth?: The video is indeed from Kalyan Jewellers from Ballari, Karanatak and this explosion occurred during refilling gas in the air conditioner.

• The Karnataka police also dismissed the claim on X (formerly Twitter) to clarify that there was no terror link.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video on Google and this led us to reports carrying a screengrab from the viral video.

• These reports were shared by Times Now and India Today on 3 May.

• They specified that three people were injured when an air conditioner explosion happened at Kalyan Jewellers store in Bellari, Karnataka.

• It added that this incident happened on the evening of 2 May.

• It further specifies that the blast happened during gas refilling in an air conditioner and it does not include anything about a terror link.

• The same details were specified by Kanada Prabha and HT Kannada.

• We also checked Karnataka police's X account and found out that they had replied to the same claim. However, the post they replied to has been deleted now.

• "The cause was an air conditioner gas explosion, and @BallariSp has already visited, and an investigation is continuing," the post added.

We have also reached out to Bellari’s Superintendent of Police Ranjit Kumar Bandaru for more details about the case and the story would be updated once we receive a response.

Conclusion: A false communal angle has been given to a video of Kalyan Jewellers in Karnataka that witnessed an AC gas blast.

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