By: Ishita Goel
May 22 2023
2018 video of Muslim man arguing with Maharashtra cop shared as from Karnataka
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
Maharashtra Police have confirmed that the video is from Jalgaon and shows a man arguing with a police personnel at a bus station.
Claim ID ff6fec5c
Context
After the Congress won the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections, social media users have shared multiple posts online to claim that the law and order situation in the state following the grand old party's win has deteriorated. In most cases, they have blamed the Muslim community, alluding to "minority appeasement" on Congress's part. Logically Facts has debunked several such claims.
In one such example, a Twitter user shared a video of a Muslim man arguing with a man in a police uniform and wrote, "Victory of Congress: The Chief Minister has not even taken oath yet and this is the situation in Karnataka." The video was shared on May 16, four days before the swearing-in ceremony.
However, this is an old video from Maharashtra's Jalgaon and shows a man arguing with police personnel at a bus station.
In Fact
In the video, we can hear the man threatening the police officer in Marathi, telling him, "Meet me when you are not wearing the uniform."
Using a reverse image search, we found a longer version of the same video uploaded by two Facebook users in September 2018. The captions of both videos claimed that the incident had taken place at the Chopda bus stand in Maharashtra.
On scrutinizing it, we noticed a hoarding behind the police personnel in Marathi. Further, the insignia on the police personnel's left sleeve is that of the Maharastra police. The star in the logo can also be seen.
Chopda is a town in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district. Taking a cue from the location mentioned in the 2018 Facebook videos, Logically Facts contacted the Jalgaon police station and was able to get in touch with Jalgaon Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Krushikesh Rawale. Rawale confirmed that the incident seen in the viral video happened at the Chopda bus station in 2018, and an FIR was filed at the Chopra City police station.
He also informed us that a case had been registered against five accused under Section 353 (criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the IPC. The FIR, available online and accessed by Logically Facts, mentioned the names of the five accused in the matter as well. Clearly, an old video from Maharashtra has been shared and falsely linked to the Congress' poll win in Karnataka.
The same video was also widely shared on social media in 2022 and falsely linked to communal clashes in Delhi's Jahangirpuri area.
The Verdict
An old video from an incident that happened in Maharastra in 2018 is being shared with the false claim that it took place in Karnataka following the assembly election results. Police officials have confirmed that it happened in Chopda town of Jalgaon district in 2018 and is unrelated to Karnataka.