False 'Terror' Angle Added to Video of AC Blast in Karnataka's Kalyan Jewellers

The Karnataka Police dismissed the communal angle added in the viral claims.

Fact-check: A false communal angle has been given to a video of Kalyan Jewellers in Karnataka that witnessed AC gas blast.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video showing people rescuing several injured people from a smoke-filled jewellery shop is going viral on social media.

What are the claims?: Some users are claiming that this was an "Islamist attack" that took place in Karnataka.

• They are also blaming the Congress party governing the state currently.

• Others are claiming that this happened in Borivali, Mumbai.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What is the truth?: The video is indeed from Kalyan Jewellers from Ballari, Karanatak and this explosion occurred during refilling gas in the air conditioner.

• The Karnataka police also dismissed the claim on X (formerly Twitter) to clarify that there was no terror link.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video on Google and this led us to reports carrying a screengrab from the viral video.

• These reports were shared by Times Now and India Today on 3 May.

• They specified that three people were injured when an air conditioner explosion happened at Kalyan Jewellers store in Bellari, Karnataka.

• It added that this incident happened on the evening of 2 May.

• It further specifies that the blast happened during gas refilling in an air conditioner and it does not include anything about a terror link.

• The same details were specified by Kanada Prabha and HT Kannada.

• We also checked Karnataka police's X account and found out that they had replied to the same claim. However, the post they replied to has been deleted now.

• "The cause was an air conditioner gas explosion, and @BallariSp has already visited, and an investigation is continuing," the post added.

The post can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

We have also reached out to Bellari’s Superintendent of Police Ranjit Kumar Bandaru for more details about the case and the story would be updated once we receive a response.

Conclusion: A false communal angle has been given to a video of Kalyan Jewellers in Karnataka that witnessed an AC gas blast.

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