Video of a mob attacking police in Odisha is passed off as TMC supporters attacking police - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 4, 2021
A post accompanying the video of a mob vandalising a police vehicle and assaulting police personnel is being widely shared across social media in the light of violence in West Bengal after the declaration of the assembly election results. It is being claimed that the video shows violence by TMC supporters after the declaration of the West Bengal election results. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of TMC supporters attacking police after the declaration of assembly election results.
Fact: The video is actually related to an incident where local residents of a village in Bhadrak district in Odisha attacked police and vandalised their vehicle after the suicide of a fellow resident, following an alleged assault by police during an interrogation. Multiple news agencies reported the incident. The video has nothing to do with ongoing Bengal violence. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Google search with relevant keywords led us to a January 2021 news article that published an image of a vehicle similar to the one in the video. The locality surrounding the vehicle shown in the image is similar to the locality shown in the latter half of the video. As per this article, the police vehicle was set ablaze by locals of Hatuari village after violence broke out over the death of a resident, Bapi Mahalik of the same village. According to the article, the youth died falling into a pond during a chase by the police.
Taking a cue from this, Google search with relevant keywords led us to a news video on YouTube which reported the above-mentioned incident. In this video, the visuals of the locality surrounding the burning jeep are similar to the video in the post. The title of the video reads ‘Locals Torch Police Van Over Detainee’s Death In Bhadrak’.
Further search yielded another news article that reported the same incident. As per this article, angry residents of a village in Bhadrak set a police van on fire after the death of a fellow resident following an alleged assault by police during their interrogation. All these pieces of evidence suggest that the video is related to mob setting ablaze a police vehicle in Odisha and has nothing to do with violence in Bengal.
Multiple instances of violence are reported in West Bengal after the declaration of assembly election results. The BJP has also announced a nationwide dharna on 05 May 2021 against what it claims is the widespread violence unleashed by TMC workers post the election results in West Bengal. There has been no detailed update from the West Bengal police except a tweet that termed the news of gang rape as fake.
In view of reports related to violence in West Bengal which broke out after the declaration of assembly election results, posts like these are being shared across social media platforms with misleading claims.
To sum it up, video of mob attacking police in Odisha is passed off as TMC supporters attacking police.