Old Video Falsely Linked to Recent Encounter With Naxals in Gadchiroli

The viral video of C-60 commandos being welcomed could be traced back to May at least.

An old video of C-60 commandos being welcomed is being falsely linked to the recent encounter in Gadchiroli with Maharashtra police wherein 26 naxals were killed.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of C-60 commandos being welcomed is being shared on social media to claim that it's related to the encounter with Maharashtra police on Saturday, 13 November, wherein 26 naxals were killed, including top Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde.

The encounter took place in the deep forests near Dhanora in Gadchiroli district, Gadchiroli SP Ankit Goyal had said.

However, we found that the viral video is an old one and not linked to the recent encounter. It could be traced back to May at least.

CLAIM

The claim along with the video reads: "Warm welcome to the team of C60 commandos who wiped out most of the top leadership of Left-Wing Naxals in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra."

The video shared by Twitter user 'MeghUpdates' had garnered over two lakh views at the time of writing the article.

You can view the archived version here.

(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

Several social media users shared the video on Facebook and Twitter with the same claim and the archived version of the posts can be viewed here, here, here, and here.

The video is viral on Facebook.

(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We searched on Google with the keywords 'C-60 Commandos celebrate Gadchiroli' and came across a Facebook post shared by media outlet ETV Bharat on 22 May.

Similar visuals as in the viral video can be seen from 0:17 seconds and the caption along with ETV Bharat's video mentioned: "After a successful encounter operation against banned outfits in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli, C-60 commandos were welcomed by officials at police district headquarters with the 'band baaja'.(sic)"

On 21 May, 13 Maoists were killed in a police encounter in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district and the operation was undertaken by elite C-60 commandos, who had cracked down upon the Maoists in a camp near a village.

Further, a comparison of the visuals seen in the viral video and the one shared on 22 May showed several similar elements.

Left: Viral video. Right: Video shared on 22 May.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Meanwhile, we reached out to Ankit Goyal, Superintendent of Police, Gadchiroli, who confirmed that the viral video is an old one.

"I am not sure about the date but it's definitely an old video," he told The Quint's WebQoof team.

He also took to Twitter to clarify that the viral video isn't related to the recent encounter.

Evidently, an old video of C-60 commandos being welcomed is being falsely linked to the recent encounter with Maharashtra police wherein 26 naxals were killed.

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