Following the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, in the first week of April, Muslims have been protesting against the newly enacted law across the country, including in West Bengal (here, here, and here). According to news reports (here, here), on 11 April 2025, these protests turned violent in Murshidabad district, West Bengal, resulting in Violence and riots. Reports (here, here, and here) indicate that three people lost their lives in the violence: two Hindus, Chandan Das and Hargobind Das, were killed in a mob attack, while a Muslim man died in police firing. According to reports, hundreds of people (mostly Hindus) affected by the violence in Murshidabad district crossed the Bhagirathi River. They sought refuge in the adjoining Malda district (here, here, and here). On 12 April 2025, the Calcutta High Court ordered the deployment of central forces to restore peace and order in the district (here). Amidst this, a video going viral on social media (here, here, and here) shows a crowd pelting stones at policemen. The policemen can be seen using shields to protect themselves during the incident. The video is being shared with the claim that it was filmed in West Bengal. Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: The video shows stone pelting on policemen in West Bengal.
Fact: The viral video is from Tinkune, Kathmandu, Nepal, and shows a clash between pro-monarchy demonstrators and security forces. It predates the violence in West Bengal and is unrelated to the recent protests. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to multiple social media posts (here, here, and here) featuring similar visuals from a different angle, posted on 28 March 2025, confirming that it predates the violence in West Bengal. The posts stated that the visuals are from Tinkune, Nepal.
We compared the viral video with the YouTube video and observed that both were filmed at the same location, as the background elements in both videos matched.
We noticed the name of the restaurant, ‘Ghar Aangan,’ written on a wall in the viral video. When we searched for the location of this ‘Ghar Aangan’ restaurant on Google Maps, we found that it is located in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Since Google Street View was unavailable for this area, we compared the visuals from the viral video with photos on Google Maps. We found that both showed the same location, as the ‘Ghar Aangan RESTRO & SEKUWA’ logo appeared on a red wall.
To verify whether a stone-pelting incident occurred in Nepal in the last week of March 2025, we conducted a Google keyword search and found multiple reports confirming the incident (here, here, and here). According to reports, on 28 March 2025 in Kathmandu, Nepal, a clash broke out between monarchy supporters and security forces after protesters tried to break a police cordon. The violence led to two deaths, several injuries, and incidents of arson targeting homes, buildings, and vehicles. The army was deployed, and around 105 people were detained. The unrest followed former King Gyanendra Shah’s 19 February 2025 video appeal on Democracy Day, urging public support, which intensified demands for the restoration of the monarchy and a Hindu nation. Nepal abolished its monarchy in 2008, becoming a secular, federal, democratic republic.
To sum up, a video of stone pelting on policemen during a clash in Nepal is falsely shared as that of West Bengal.
