An old rally video from Sangli, Maharashtra, is being falsely shared as a Bajrang Dal rally heading to West Bengal
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 and 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, here). Amidst this unrest, a video (here, here, here and here) is going viral on social media showing a massive midnight bike rally with police managing traffic. It’s being claimed that these are Bajrang Dal members heading to West Bengal — let’s find out the truth behind this video.
Claim: The video shows a midnight Bajrang Dal rally heading to West Bengal in the wake of recent 2025 violence in Murshidabad.
Fact The video is from an old rally related to the Mayakka Devi annual fair in Chinchali, Karnataka, passing through Sangli, Maharashtra. It has been online since February 2025—well before the Murshidabad violence and Waqf Bill events. The video has no link to West Bengal or Bajrang Dal. Hence, the claim is FALSE.
To verify the video, we performed a reverse image search using multiple keyframes from the viral clip. This led us to an older video uploaded on 17 February 2025, which includes the viral portion along with extended shots of the same rally, including people riding horses on highways. The video, titled “Naad Oo“, confirms that the viral footage is part of this earlier rally. We also found older uploads (here and here ) of similar bike rallies from various other handles, further verifying its origin.
A side-by-side comparison of the viral video and the older video reveals matching details — including the road layout, nearby trees, and shops — confirming that the viral video is indeed part of the rally shown in the older video.
Since the exact event wasn’t clear, we ran a reverse image search again on the older video. This time, it led us to a YouTube video uploaded by the channel ‘Maharashtra Katta 1’. The video features the same bike rally, including the horse riding scenes, and even shows police stopping and beating some of the participants. The video is titled “Sangli Bike Rally Viral Video: Police gave a beating to the hooligans in Sangli!” which confirms the rally took place in Sangli, Maharashtra.
To verify the event, we did a keyword search using Google’s date filter and found a report by The Times of India published on 19 February 2025. The report confirmed that an incident took place in Sangli, Maharashtra. According to the article, hundreds of bikers were returning from the Mayakka Devi annual fair in Chinchali, Karnataka, around 2 AM, creating chaos by honking and cheering. The police had to resort to a lathi charge to control the situation, leading to minor injuries for around 45 people. Inspector Kiran Chougule of Sangli Rural Police stated that there was no permission for horse cart racing in Sangli city, but many youths entered the area with horse carts and loud bikers. Despite warnings, the bikers caused a nuisance, forcing the police to act. This confirms that the viral video is unrelated to the current situation in Kolkata or Murshidabad and actually shows an older incident from Sangli, Maharashtra.
Additionally, we couldn’t find any reports confirming that Bajrang Dal organised a rally or was heading to West Bengal.
To sum up, an old rally video from Sangli, Maharashtra, is being falsely shared as a Bajrang Dal rally heading to West Bengal.