An old image of a man thrashing a police personnel is being shared on social media with a claim that “BJP goons are beating cops in Bengal.”
The image is actually from 2017 when a mob protesting the alleged rape of a teenager in Kanpur had attacked police officers.
CLAIM
The image, which has been shared on Facebook and Twitter, is shared with a claim “बंगाल में बीजेपी के गुंडे एक बुजुर्ग पुलिस वाले की सहायता करते हुए |” [Translation: BJP goons helping an old police personnel in Bengal]
The image has been shared on Twitter with the same claim.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
On conducting a reverse image search, we came across a Daily Mail article from 2017 which mentioned that the image was from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The news report added that a mob attacked policemen after a girl was allegedly raped in the intensive care unit of a hospital.
A keyword search of these details led us to a Times of India article dated 18 June 2017, which states that three policemen including a sub-inspector were injured and several vehicles were damaged in the incident.
The protests against the teenage girl’s alleged rape at Jagriti hospital turned violent, as police lathi-charged on the mob for dispersal, which in turn resorted to stone-pelting.
The incident was also reported by Aaj Tak, stating that the police had registered more than 200 cases and arrested 36 people for the violence on Barra highway.
Evidently, an old incident from Kanpur has been falsely shared as BJP workers’ attack on police in West Bengal.
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