Mock drill video from Vidisha, MP shared as terrorists captured by security forces

“मध्य प्रदेश के विदिशा जिला कलेक्ट्रेट के भवन की निर्माणाधीन बिल्डिंग में चार आतंकवादी घुसे जिसे जिला पुलिस बल विदिशा द्वारा रेस्क्यू कर जिंदा पकड़ने में सफलता प्राप्त की बधाई हो ऐसे पुलिस वालों को” (“Four terrorists entered collectorate building in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh, Vidisha police captured them alive and the operation was a success congratulations to such policemen- translated”).

The above message has been shared on social media, along with a video showing several uniformed personnel who seem to have ‘captured’ terrorists in an operation. The video begins with a person in a pathani suit being handcuffed and made to squat. This person is sporting a false beard. More people are seen toward the end of the video, handcuffed and made to squat by uniformed personnel who surround them.

The above post by a Facebook user on October 4, has been shared over 4,400 times and viewed over 315,000 times. It has been posted with identical text by several individual users. The video is 2:03 minutes long.

FACT CHECK: MOCK DRILL VIDEO

In the past, Alt News has encountered similar scenarios, wherein videos of supposed police or military operations have been circulated on social media. These videos turned out to be mock drills carried out by security forces. Prima facie, this video too seemed like a mock drill, judging by the reaction of some of the uniformed personnel, who can be seen smiling. At 1:40 minutes in the video, a voice can be heard saying, “There should be no laughter during the photo session”. (translated from Hindi).

With the assumption that the video represents a mock drill, Alt News searched with relevant keywords and found an article published on the website www.naidunia.com, dated September 28, 2019. The article stated that a mock drill was conducted by Vidisha police at the collectorate premises in Vidisha district, MP.

On further searching, we found an article published on a website, Khabar State. The article carried the same still as seen at the end of the video. It stated that the mock drill was carried out on September 27, with Vidisha police demonstrating quick response to a ‘hostage’ situation.

A comparison of the two images is shown below.

It may be noted that the video circulated on social media as Vidisha police arresting five terrorists, is actually a video of a mock drill conducted by the police in September. Another video of a mock drill was shared in September as explosives recovered from Ahmednagar bus stand in Maharashtra. Earlier in August 2019, multiple videos of mock drills were shared as Mumbai under terror alert.