On 26 September 2025, violence erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, reportedly (here, here, and here) during a protest against police action on people who carried ‘I love Muhammad’ posters during an Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi procession in Kanpur on 4 September 2025. Soon after that, security forces were deployed to control the situation. As per the reports, a video of an incident where police chased away people who took part in an ‘I Love Muhammad’ procession in Mau District was shared on social media. On 27 September 2025, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested eight persons in relation to the violent clash in Bareilly, including a local Islamic Cleric named Tauqeer Raza Khan, who called for a demonstration.
Amid this, a video is being widely shared on social media (here, here, and here) showing a large crowd carrying torches in a procession and chanting slogans such as “UP Police, use your batons!” It is being claimed that the video is from Uttar Pradesh. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.
Claim: The video shows a torch procession with people chanting “UP Police, use your batons!” in Uttar Pradesh.
Fact: The viral video does not show a torch procession in Uttar Pradesh with people chanting “UP Police, use your batons!”; it actually shows a torchlight procession held on 25 September 2025 in Jaipur, Rajasthan, organised by supporters of Naresh Meena demanding justice for children who died in the Piplodi school collapse. Even the slogans in the video were digitally added. The UP Police also clarified on 01 October 2025 that the video is being falsely linked to them. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of key frames from the viral video led us to multiple social media posts (here, here, and here) featuring the same visuals. These posts claimed the video shows a youth demonstration in Jaipur, organised to seek justice for the families of children killed in the Jhalawar school tragedy. A massive torchlight procession was held from Triveni to Gurjar Ki Thadi, but no such slogan can be heard in these videos.
Taking a cue from these social media posts, we searched with relevant keywords on Google and found multiple media reports (here, here, and here) about the procession. As per these reports, the torchlight march was organised on 25 September 2025 in Jaipur by supporters of Rajasthan youth leader Naresh Meena, who was on a 14-day hunger strike demanding justice for the families of children who died in the Piplodi school collapse in Jhalawar, where seven children lost their lives in July 2025. The procession began at Triveni Nagar Square and concluded at Gurjar Ki Thadi, with participation from people across communities.
We also came across a live video recorded on Naresh Meena’s Facebook page on 25 September 2025, which matches the location seen in the viral video. The same live stream was shared by Punjab Kesari Rajasthan on its Facebook page on 26 September 2025. After reviewing both videos, we found that the slogan heard in the viral claim was not present anywhere in them.
Using Google Street View, we matched the procession’s location to 11 Gopalpura bypass, Jaipur, Rajasthan, and identified Kamla Towers and the Unacademy centre beside it in the viral video, confirming that the footage is indeed from Jaipur.
A video posted on an X account on 27 September 2025 shows a man chanting the same slogan. Our investigation identified him as Deepak Sharma, and the sloganeering is also mentioned in an NDTV report. This makes it clear that the slogan from a separate video was digitally added to the Jaipur torch procession footage and is being falsely circulated as originating from Uttar Pradesh.
Additionally, the UP Police clarified in an X post on 01 October 2025 that a viral video is being falsely linked to them. The video actually shows the torch procession in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on 25 September 2025, with a fake voiceover added. The UP Police refuted the misleading video and reminded that spreading rumours is a punishable offence, urging people to report any false news or rumours related to them.
To sum up, this viral video does not show a torch procession in UP chanting “UP Police, use your batons”; it is from a rally in Jaipur.
