A video is being shared on social media claiming it as the visuals of Tripura police personnel chanting ‘Jai Sri Ram’ slogans and leading the rioters to burn Muslim houses in Tripura. In the wake of the recent communal unrest in Tripura, this video is being shared on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a policeman chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans and leading the rioters to burn Muslim houses in Tripura.
Fact: The video shared in the post is an old one. This video was shot in March 2018 during the Ram Navami celebrations at Samastipur city in Bihar. This video has nothing to do with the recent Tripura communal violence. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE
On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, videos with similar visuals were found posted on social media at least since 2018. They can be seen here and here. A video with similar visuals was found in a tweet made by the ‘Patna Live’ news channel on 30 March 2018. The ‘Patna Live’ news channel reported it as the visuals of Bihar’s Samastipur district police chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans during the Ram Navami festival celebrations in 2018.
‘The Patna’ Live news channel had published an article related to this viral video circulating on social media. According to the details reported in the article, the ASI in charge of the Ram Navami festival security had joined the religion procession and chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans during a rally in Samastipur. Following the incident, on 26 March 2018, a communal clash reportedly took at Rosda Bazar in Samastipur. Over 60 people including policemen were injured in this incident. When this video of ASI chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans went viral after the communal clash, several social media users and people have reportedly questioned the Police officer’s acts of violating his duty and raising slogans in a religious procession.
In March 2018, several news websites reported the communal violence that took place during the Ram Navami celebrations in Samastipur. They can be seen here and here. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the video shared in the post is old and has nothing to do with the incidents in Tripura.
To sum it up, an unrelated old video from Bihar is being shared as the visuals of Tripura policeman inciting communal violence in Tripura.
