Old Video From Anti-CAA Protests in Gorakhpur Falsely Linked To Kanpur Violence

Speaking to The Quint, a local reporter confirmed that the video is from Gorakhpur and dates back to 2019.

Fact-check: The claim states that the video shows UP Police thrashing people who protested in Kanpur against Nupur Sharma.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video, showing police personnel thrashing people with sticks, is being shared on social media with a claim that the visuals are from the recent violence that broke out in Kanpur.

The audio in the background of the video sarcastically states that this is the 'prasad' (offering) by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for all those involved in the violence.

The claim comes on the back of the violence that broke out in Pared, Nai Sadak, and Yateemkhana areas of the city on Friday, 3 June, when some people tried to force shopkeepers to bring down shutters to protest against Nupur Sharma’s remarks against Prophet Muhammad.

The UP Police have arrested a total of 50 in connection to this violence. 16 nations also came out and condemned the comments made by Sharma.

However, this video dates back to December 2019 when people protested against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur.

CLAIM

One of the posts with the viral video reads, "कानपुर में योगी बाबा का प्रसाद वितरित करते पुलिसकर्मी"

(Translation: Police giving out "prasad" to people in Yogi's governed Kanpur.)

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Similar posts can be seen here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Upon dividing the video into multiple keyframes and running it on Google reverse image search, we came across a YouTube video uploaded by a Hindi news website Live Hindustan on 20 December 2019.

The description read that police used tear gas and resorted to lathi-charging people during the anti-CAA protest at Nakhas Chowk in Uttar Pradesh's city, Gorakhpur.

The viral clip can be seen in this YouTube video from 1:08 timestamp.

Similarities can be noticed in the viral video and the screenshot from 2019's video.

The video dates back to 2019.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

We also noticed a board in the video which mentioned 'Gorakhpur' in Hindi.

The board says 'Gorakhpur' in Hindi.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

The Quint also contacted Dr Vipin Tada, Gorakhpur's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), who confirmed that the video is old.

This was reiterated by a local reporter, Vivek Shukla, who added that the visuals are from anti-CAA protests, which broke our across the country in late 2019.

WHAT HAPPENED IN KANPUR?

Protests broke out in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur over the remarks of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on Prophet Muhammad.

UP Additional Director-General (ADG) Law and Order, Prashant Kumar, explained how the clash unfolded: "Some Muslim organisations had called for a 'bandh' in protest against Nupur Sharma's remarks."

The police had resorted to lathi-charge over the protesters and as of now, a total of 50 people have been arrested.

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