A video is going viral on social media, showing a man being caught and beaten by the police. This is being shared alleging that a Muslim man named Abdul was harassing a girl and was caught by UP Police. Let’s verify the truth behind this claim.
Claim: The viral video shows a Muslim man named Abdul harassing a girl and getting caught by Uttar Pradesh Police.
Fact: The video is from Indore, Madhya Pradesh not Uttar Pradesh, and dates back to May 2015. It shows an anti-crime drive conducted by Indore Police, where suspects were publicly paraded and thrashed as part of a crackdown on crime. The incident is unrelated to any case of girl harassment and has no communal angle. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
To verify the claim, we conducted a keyword search on Google to check if any credible reports mentioned a person named Abdul being arrested recently for harassing a girl. However, we did not find any reliable news sources confirming this incident.
To verify the viral video, we conducted a reverse image search of keyframes, which led us to a news report published on the ABP News YouTube channel on 29 May 2015. The report features clips from the same video. At the 4:22 timestamp, the viral visuals begin, showing a man in a green shirt being beaten by the police.
According to the report, the video captures an anti-crime drive conducted by Indore Police in May 2015. During this operation, several individuals were arrested, publicly paraded, and beaten with lathis. The crackdown was carried out across 15 police stations, with over 50 such parades organized to deter criminals and reassure the public. Authorities stated that the operation aimed to target wanted criminals, update police records, and prevent future disputes. As part of the initiative, suspects were taken from their homes, marched through their localities, and then escorted to the police station.
We found several media reports (here and here) covering Indore police’s anti-crime drive from May 2015. These reports confirm that the viral video is from this operation, where multiple suspects were arrested, publicly paraded, and disciplined as part of a crackdown on crime.
We have already reached out to Indore Police for more details about the video and will update the article once we receive a response. Based on the available information, it is confirmed that the incident is not from UP, is not related to any case of girl harassment, and has no communal angle.
To sum up, a 2015 video from an anti-crime drive conducted by Indore Police is being falsely shared as an incident from Uttar Pradesh with a communal angle.
