Video from Gujarat falsely viral as Muslims attacked after ‘The Kashmir Files’ release

A CCTV clip has been making the rounds on social media recently. The footage shows a man attacking a group of Muslims inside a shop with a sword. The victims tried to shield themselves by throwing chairs, a cycle, and a gas cylinder at the assailant. The video is being shared as the after-effects of the film ‘The Kashmir Files’. Twitter user Aadil Sheikh shared the clip with this claim. (Archive link)

Another Twitter user also promoted the visuals and accompanying claim. (Archive link)

मुसलमानों को सुरक्षा के लिए सोचना पड़ेगा और तैयारियां रखनी पड़ेगी

ये सब कश्मीर फाइल्स फ़िल्म देकने के बाद का सिन हे pic.twitter.com/qvYRfnt5hz

— Akhtarul Qadri (@MAQuadri92) March 23, 2022

The clip is widespread on Facebook and Twitter with the same message.

Fact-check

Alt News performed a reverse image search using frames from the video, which led us to a tweet by News18 Gujarati. Reporting on the incident, the outlet also stated that the attack occurred in Surat, Gujarat.

સુરતમાં લુખ્ખાઓનો આતંક, દુકાનદાર ઉપર કર્યો તલવાર વડે હુમલો, ઘટના સીસીટીવીમાં કેદ #surat #Gujarat pic.twitter.com/uo5CH5DLEe

— News18Gujarati (@News18Guj) March 20, 2022

News18 Gujarati covered the incident in a March 20, 2022 story which said that two young miscreants attacked some shopkeepers in the Bhathena area of Surat, after demanding money from them. When the shopkeepers refused and decided to file a police complaint, the young men began attacking them with a sword.

We also reached out to the Salabatpura Police Station, where charges were filed by both parties in the matter. The police informed us that the video has no connection to ‘The Kashmir Files’. They revealed that the incident occurred on March 15, and there was some mutual enmity between the two sides. However, there was no communal angle to it. The attackers and the victims were all Muslims. The police filed complaints on behalf of both parties and also made two arrests in the case.

Boomlive accessed a copy of the FIR and found that out of the 11 accused, 10 were Muslim.

To sum it up, a man attacked a few shopkeepers with a sword over a case of mutual enmity. A video of this was falsely circulated on social media as the after-effect of the film, ‘The Kashmir Files’.