Pic Doesn’t Show Face-off Between India & China in Arunachal, It’s a Movie!

The photo is a still from a 2021 web film, 'L.A.C' which is based on Indo-Chinese conflicts at Galwan Valley.

A photo purportedly showing an Indian Army personnel overpowering another man and holding him is being shared with a claim that the army held more than 150 Chinese soldiers hostage in Arunachal Pradesh.

This comes against the backdrop of the recent face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh where the Chinese forces transgressed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and entered the Indian territory.

However, we found that the photograph being shared is a still from a film titled L.A.C, which was filmed in 2020. The film is based on a face-off that happened between the Indian and Chinese army personnel in Galwan Valley, Ladakh in 2020.

CLAIM

The photo, which shows a Sikh soldier in a red turban holding a man dressed in blue camouflage from the back, was shared with different claims in Hindi, both of which implied that it showed a scene from the recent face-off in Tawang.

This post by a Facebook page was shared more than 8,100 times and liked by more than 5,500 users at the time of writing this article.

The photo is viral with similar claims on Facebook.

Other posts with the same claim can be seen here, here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Using reverse image search, we came across many Chinese websites that carried the image, in articles that were published in December 2020.

One such article by Chinese media website Duowei News read that an Indian film "Kalwan River Valley is launched". The article carried a gallery of stills from the film, which also contained the viral image.

Using this as a clue, we searched on YouTube with relevant keywords and came across a video uploaded by channel 'Martial Art Ladakh'. The video was titled "LAC movie shooting in Kargil Ladakh Behind The Scenes' and was uploaded on 3 December 2020.

Around the 5-minute-39-seconds mark in the video, footage resembling the photo in the claim can be seen, with the soldier in the red turban grabbing the man in the blue fatigues.

In a few seconds, a frame matching the viral claim is seen.

In the full video, there are many instances where cameras and crew are visible in frames, making it clear that the visuals are from a film set.

(Note: Swipe right to view images.)

As per IMDb, L.A.C is a 2021 web film starring actor Rahul Roy, Bigg Boss 14 contestant Nishant Malkani and is directed by Nitin Gupta, who also stars in the film.

WHAT HAPPENED IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH?

Around 200 Chinese army personnel were intercepted near the Line of Actual Control near Tawang Sector in Arunachal Pradesh after they entered the Indian territory. Local commanders on both sides held talks as per protocol and disengaged shortly after.

The incident marked a second transgression after Chinese troops entered Uttarakhand, where they damaged a bridge among other infrastructure.

Later on 10 October, members of the Indian and Chinese militaries met to hold the 13th Corps Commander talks to resolve the standoff in eastern Ladakh. However, the talks "did not result in a resolution" as "the Chinese side was not agreeable", as per a press release by the Indian Army.

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