Fact-Check: Video of People Firing Guns Falsely Linked To Manipur Violence

This video could be traced back to 2020 which proves that this clip is not from the recent Manipur violence.

Fact-check: It is clearly an old video which is being falsely linked with Manipur violence.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video showing three people firing away is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows people from Kuki tribes firing shots at people from Meitei community in Manipur.

This comes after violence gripped Manipur and clashes broke out between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribals in the state.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

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

The truth: This video predates the violence in Manipur.

• It has been on the internet since at least 2020, when it was shared as a clip from Mexico.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on some of the keyframes of the video and came across an Instagram post from 2020.

• The post shared on 5 July 2020 carried the same viral video and the location was tagged as Culiacán, México.

• However, the post also carried hashtags about video games like Battlefield, PUBG, Call of Duty, Warzone and Fortnite.

What is happening in Manipur?: On 3 May a tribal solidarity march was organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) against the demand for inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.

• Violence erupted in Churachandpur district and nearby regions where almost 80 people were injured.

• The Central government on 4 May took charge of the security situation and evoked Article 355 in the wake of arson and violence.

Conclusion: Although we could not independently verify the location or the context of this video however, it is clearly an old video which is being falsely linked with Manipur violence.

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