Video From Agra Peddled as Clip From Madhya Pradesh With False Communal Spin

Agra SP Prabhakar Chaudhary told The Quint that there was no communal angle to the incident in the video.

(This story was first published on 29 August 2022. It is not republished as the same claim is going viral on social media again.)

A video of police personnel conducting a raid in the lower floors of an establishment showing couples in close proximity and intimate positions is being shared on social media.

It is being shared to claimed that the police raided a hookah bar in Madhya Pradesh arrested 30 people, which included 15 Muslim boys and 15 Hindu girls, giving the incident a communal colour.

However, we found that the claim is false. The incident took place in the Sanjay Place area in Uttar Pradesh's Agra, where the police raided a cafe and found couples in compromising positions in booths.

Agra Superintendent of Police (SP) Prabhakar Chaudhary told The Quint that there were no arrests made in connection to the video, and denied any communal angle to the incident.

CLAIM

The video is being shared with a 'love jihad' spin, stating that 15 Muslim boys and 15 Hindu girls were arrested from a hookah bar in Madhya Pradesh.

Similar posts can be seen here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Using InVID, a video verification tool, we divided the viral video into multiple keyframes and ran reverse image searches on some of them. The results led us to a report by a website named 'UP18News,' which carried blurred stills from the viral video.

According to this, the video showed an incident in Agra, where the police raided the lower floors of a café.

Taking a cue from this, we looked for more news reports on the viral video.

On 27 July, police personnel from the Hariparvat police station area in Agra visited the lower floors of a café situated at Sanjay Place, a commercial area, reported Dainik Bhaskar.

There, they found that cabins were being rented out to couples, who were found in compromising positions when the police entered the premises without notice, it added. It also mentioned that the police personnel who had recorded the video were facing backlash for making the video public.

Another report by Amar Ujala mentioned that the police had taken action against the establishment under The Sarais Act – which lays down rules and regulations for those providing shelter in a commercial capacity.

The Quint contacted Agra Superintendent of Police (SP) Prabhakar Chaudhary, who categorically denied any communal angle to the incident.

SP Chaudhary said that no arrests had been made in connection to the viral video. He added that the police had filed a case against the establishment, and the constable who shot and shared the video had been suspended.

Evidently, a video from Agra showing people in compromising positions in booths under a café is being shared as one from Madhya Pradesh, with a false communal colour.

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