A 2-min-15-second video which shows a group of people pelting stones with police personnel standing as mere onlookers, followed by some cops firing, is being shared on social media with the claim that it is linked to the recent clashes that erupted in Jahangirpuri area of Delhi.
Stone-pelting and arson were witnessed in the area on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti on 16 April when a procession passed through a mosque, injuring nine people, including eight police personnel and one civilian. So far, 25 people have been arrested in the case, including two juveniles.
However, we found that the video is from 2019. According to a report by The Times of India (ToI), the video was from Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district during anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest on 20 December 2019.
CLAIM
The video is being shared with the claim in Hindi that reads, "यह है दिल्ली पुलिस, भगवा दंगाइयों के साथ मिलकर वर्ग विशेष के ऊपर पत्थर बाजी कर रही है, गोली बरसा रही है, और हैरत की बात यही जांच भी कर रही है कि दंगा कैसे भड़का।"
(Translation: This is Delhi Police, who joined hands with pro-Hindutva rioters, and can be seen pelting stones on a particular community, firing bullets. Surprisingly, they are also investigating how the riots broke out.)
WHAT WE FOUND
We conducted a keyword search and found a tweet from 1 January 2020 by The Times of India journalist Arvind Chauhan who posted a series of videos stating that civilians were seen pelting stones, setting fire on property owned by Muslims, as cops watched on, in Firozabad.
The video, that is now shared and being linked to the Jahangirpuri violence, was shared by Chauhan in 2020 along with the caption, "In this video civilian pelt stone on other community, while police fire bullet."
We also found a news report from 31 December 2019 on the daily that read that videos emerged showing cops firing bullets and civilians pelting stones, although police claimed that not a single bullet was fired during an anti-CAA protest in Firozabad on 20 December 2019.
Six people were killed due to bullet injuries in the protest.
Further, senior journalist from Firozabad Aman Jain also confirmed to The Quint that the video is from Nalband Chouraha in Firozabad, near Raja Palace, during the anti-CAA protest that took place on 20 December 2019.
Clearly, a video from UP's Firozabad is being shared on social media along with the false claim that it shows the Delhi police was hand-in-glove with stone-pelting rioters in Jahangirpuri.
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