A video of cops vandalizing vehicles was shared on social media with the claim that the incident took place in Uttar Pradesh. Twitter user Fahad posted the video and wrote, “Mohsin Ansari ki Haddi & Fracture Clinic ke neeche khadi gaadiyon ko fracture karte hue @Uppolice ke janbaaz sipahi.” It has garnered more than 900 retweets.
Mohsin Ansari ki Haddi & Fracture Clinic ke neeche khadi gaadiyon ko fracture karte hue @Uppolice ke janbaaz sipahi.
Kya aapko in pe naaz nahin hai @AmitShah Sahab. ?
We Indians are so proud of them. Shabaash UP Police pic.twitter.com/82mZH3QpqP
— Fahad (@rjfahad) December 25, 2019
Alt News has received several requests on its official mobile application to fact-check the video.
On December 25, Twitter handle UP police fact-check informed that the video is from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
वीडियो में दिखाई जा रही घटना @UPPolice से संबंधित नहीं है, यह जबलपुर मध्य प्रदेश का वीडियो है।#UPPAgainstFakeNews pic.twitter.com/7GBEYkTw2W
— UPPOLICE FACT CHECK (@UPPViralCheck) December 25, 2019
Jabalpur SP Amit Singh on December 27 was quoted by Times of India as saying, “We have constituted a committee to probe the alleged video. If any fact is found, then appropriate compensation will be provided to those who suffered losses.”
Fact-check
Alt News analysed the video frame-by-frame and found a signboard, “MS Haddi and Fracture Clinic”. The clinic is located in Gohalpur area of Jabalpur and is recognised as MS Ortho clinic on Google Maps. The contact details of the clinic on the signage matches with the details available on Google.
According to a Times of India report, violence broke out in Jabalpur on December 20 during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. “Thirteen policemen were injured and curfew was clamped in Gohalpur, Hanumantal, Kotwali and Adhartal police station areas,” said the report.
A YouTube search with relevant keywords showed several videos of police action and vehicle vandalism. We found a longer video representing the same police vandalism near MS Ortho Clinic in Gohalpur area. It was posted on December 20, A cursory comparison of buildings and structures in the video posted by Twitter user Fahad and the YouTube video matches.
A portion of the above video was also posted by the YouTube channel AIMIM News Today on December 20. One can spot the relevant portion from 3:12 mins to 5:26 mins.
Moreover, one can spot a nursing home ‘Adarsh’ in the video. In the comparison below, we have positioned a screenshot taken at 2:25 in the video with an image of the clinic publically available on Google Maps.
According to Google Maps, the distance between MS Ortho Clinic and Adarsh Nursing Home is 170 metres. This further corroborates the location where the police vandalism took place.
In conclusion, a video of police vandalism in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh was shared as Uttar Pradesh police vandalizing vehicles.
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