COVID Awareness Drive By Ajmer Police Shared With Misleading Claim

The Quint contacted the Ajmer Sharif Dargah and they confirmed that the dargah is closed.

A video of a coronavirus awareness drive has been taken out of context and circulated with a misleading claim.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A 30-second video that shows police personnel walking with placards and banners in their hands is being circulated on Facebook and YouTube with a misleading claim that the Rajasthan Police visited Ajmer Sharif Dargah months after it re-opened.

However, we found this claim misleading on two counts:

• The Dargah has still not opened.
• This was a video that was shot during a coronavirus awareness drive that was carried out by the police.

An archived version of the post can be seen here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

CLAIM

The video goes with a claim that the police officers in Ajmer visited Ajmer Sharif Dargah the day it opened and prayed for the well-being of everyone in the state.

An archived version of the post can be seen here.(Source: YouTube/Screenshot)

The video shows police personnel carrying placards and banners.

WHAT WE FOUND

We contacted Kunwar Rashtradeep, superintendent of police (SP) in Ajmer, who told us that the video is being shared with a misleading claim. He said that this was a part of an awareness drive that was carried out on the instructions of the state government.

“This was a four-kilometre-long flag march, which was carried out on 29 June. The police officers can be seen carrying banners and placards, which, too, are to spread awareness about coronavirus,” Rashtradeep said.

He also added that the religious places in the state (barring those in rural Rajasthan) are still closed and even the police aren’t going inside them. Further, he directed us to the Facebook page of Ajmer police where the pictures of the drive were uploaded.

We also contacted the Ajmer Sharif Dargah and they confirmed that the Dargah is indeed closed.

Evidently, a video has been taken out of context and circulated with a misleading claim.

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