Old Mobile tower fire accident in Dehradun falsely linked to the ongoing farmers’ protests. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 31, 2020
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as the visuals of a Jio tower getting vandalised by the protesting groups of farmers. In the wake of farmers’ leaders call to boycott all Reliance products including the highly used Jio, this video is going viral on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a Jio tower getting vandalised by a group of protesting farmers.
Fact: Video shared in the post is an old one. This video shows the 2017 fire accident on a mobile tower in Dehradun. A short circuit inside the tower is said to be the reason for this fire breakout. This incident has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers’ protests over the new farm laws. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the screenshots shared in the post, similar visuals were found in a video report published by ‘News 18 Hindi’ on ‘29 June 2017’. In the description of the video, it is reported as the visuals of a fire accident that took place in Dehradun in June 2017. In the video, it is reported that fire suddenly broke out from the rooftop of a mobile tower in Ankit Puram, Dehradun. A short circuit inside the tower is said to be the reason for this fire accident. Fire brigade personnel with the help of locals controlled the fire from the tower.
Sharing the same visuals, ‘Amar Ujala’  published a report on ‘28 June 2017’. In the report, it is mentioned as the fire accident on a mobile tower in Dehradun because of the short circuit. From all these pieces of evidence, it is concluded that the video shared in the post is an old one and has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers’ protests.
Amid the ongoing tussle between the farmers and the Indian Government over the new farm laws, several protesting groups vandalised the Jio towers in Punjab and other nearby areas in the country. Media reports about such attacks on Jio towers can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, an old fire accident on a mobile tower in Dehradun is falsely linked to the ongoing farmers’ protests.