A video is viral on Twitter and Facebook where two policemen can be seen drinking alcohol while sitting on the bonnet of a police car. It has been claimed that these are Uttar Pradesh cops and chief minister Yogi Adityanath has been criticised in viral messages. Facebook page ‘Chacha Baklol’ wrote, “In Yogi’s government, the people of UP are more afraid of khaki uniforms than goons. Look at the police, they are drinking alcohol openly in broad daylight, this is the duty of these policemen. Uttar Pradesh Jungle Raj Jai Hind Bharat Mata Ki Jai…..” The post drew over 45,000 views.
योगी सरकार मैं यूपी की जनता गुंडों से नहीं खाकी वर्दी वालों से ज्यादा डर रही है 100 नंबर पुलिस को देखो शराब दिनदहाड़े खुलेआम पी रहे हैं ये है इन पुलिस वालों की ड्यूटी उत्तर प्रदेश जंगलराज जय हिंद भारत माता की जय…..😂😁
Posted by Chacha Baklol on Wednesday, 7 July 2021
Facebook page ‘5K BROADCASTING’ also posted the video.
The video was shared in 2019 with the same claim.
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🇮🇳🙏 योगी सरकार मैं यूपी की जनता गुंडों से नहीं खाकी वर्दी वालों से ज्यादा डर रही है 100 नंबर पुलिस को देखो शराब दिनदहाड़े खुलेआम पी रहे हैं ये है इन पुलिस वालों की ड्यूटी उत्तर प्रदेश जंगलराज जय हिंद जय भारतPosted by अपना गाँव शहर on Sunday, 8 September 2019
Fact-check
Alt News found a report in The Financial Express dated March 15, 2017. This report includes a screenshot of the viral video. It states the Bahujan Samaj Party had targeted the UP police by tweeting a video of two drunk policemen and terming the state ‘Gunda Raj’.
Dial 100 UP Police drink liquor at open highway in Shamli. #GundaRajContinues #BSP #EVMtampering pic.twitter.com/13TYUGqrUM
— Bahujan4India (@Bahujan4India) March 14, 2017
This video was tweeted by Bahujan Samaj Party on March 14, 2017 at 10.31 pm. One India Hindi reported that the video was shot on the day of Holi. If one notices carefully, the policeman on the right is covered with light pink colour. He can also be heard saying in the video, “We are policemen. We will perform our duties and also celebrate the festival.” Holi was observed on March 12-13 in 2017.
It is also noteworthy that the bonnet of the vehicle has ‘UP’ written in red colour in Hindi which confirms the video shows UP policemen. Photos of the UP police vehicle featured in the vehicle can be found with a simple Google search.
It is noteworthy that Yogi Adityanath had assumed the office of the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 19, 2017 and the video was shot before this date. Therefore, the clip was not taken during his tenure.
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