Old video of BSF jawans injured in road accident shared as slain Indian army soldiers

Several social media users have shared a one-minute video of injured Indian soldiers lying on the ground. It is being claimed that the video shows the aftermath of the recent face-off with China in Ladakh.

Replying to journalist Rana Ayyub, one Mandeep Singh Brar posted the video and wrote, “Our blood is boiling for what Chinese did to our soldiers in Galwan valley.”

our blood is boiling for what Chinese did to our soldiers in Galwan valley. The Modi Ji’s and army leadership response is very much heart wrenching. We never imagined our soldiers will die like this and our leadership won’t be even able to threat China for consequences 😡😡 pic.twitter.com/mFUYouVt1p

— Mandeep Singh brar (@Singhbrarh) June 20, 2020

Another Twitter user shared the video with the same claim.

Indian soldiers wounded in a battle with Chinese troops in #laddakh are crying like children#ModiSurrendersGalwanValley pic.twitter.com/zEQDqb74QG

— WASEEM TARIQ (@Waseemt37272046) June 20, 2020

Fact-check

Alt News performed a keyword search on YouTube and found that last year a channel named HIILU ALL IN ONE published a longer three-minute version of the video currently being shared as the plight of Indian soldiers in Ladakh. As per the video description, a civil bus carrying 93 Border Security Force (BSF) troops met with a road accident while on the way to Silchar on October 30, 2019.

Using this as a clue, we performed a keyword search on Google restricting the results between October 30, 2019 to October 31, 2019 and found that Northeast Now published a news report that matches the above-mentioned context. As per the report, one person died and 22 others, including 20 BSF jawans and two civilians, were injured as a bus fell down in a gorge at Umtyrra in East Jaintia Hills on October 30, 2019.

The report added that the BSF team was heading back to their base in two civil buses, three heavy vehicles and one Bolero. One of the buses met with a mishap as it skidded off the National Highway 6 at Umtyrra.

The video was shared with false narratives last year as well. For instance, BSF officers killed in an accident or Indian soldiers killed in Pakistan. These were debunked by Factly and Times Fact Check.

In November 2019, Factly wrote an email to BSF Meghalaya for clarification. Randhir Ranjan (2IC – Operations, Ftr HQ BSF Meghalaya) responded, “There was no casualty of any BSF jawan in the bus accident. However, 01 helper of the civil bus, which was carrying the BSF jawan, died in that accident. All jawans who sustained injuries during the accident are safe and undergoing treatment at various hospitals.”

The video therefore shows BSF jawans who were injured in a road accident in Meghalaya last year. The claim that they died in the recent India-China skirmish is false. The dispute has given rise to a lot of misinformation on social media with old images and videos being liked to the border tensions.