UP youth beaten for raising pro-Pak slogans and attacking cow? Old video, false claims

by Kinjal

A video of two policemen beating a boy has been shared with the claim that he was thrashed for raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans in Uttar Pradesh. Twitter user ‘@chandanmedia’ shared the footage with this claim. (Archive link)

Some Twitter handles also amplified the video and accompanying claim. The footage is also making the rounds on WhatsApp and Facebook with the same message. (Link 1, Link 2)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Furthermore, the video has also been shared with a different claim that suggests the youth was beaten up for attacking a cow.

Alt News has received a verification request on WhatsApp where the message alleges that the youth hailed from the Muslim community. The same clip of a young man attacking a cow has been shared along with the viral video.

Fact-check

Alt News performed a keyword search on Twitter, which led us to a tweet from May 6, 2021. It says that the incident occurred in Balua police station in Chandauli where policemen thrashed a minor in Mathela village.

Upon further research on Youtube, we came across a report dated May 6, 2021, by a channel named ‘Aary Prayas’. The video description mentions that Kailawar outpost (which comes under Chandauli Balua police station) in-charge Shivanand Verma had beaten up a minor boy on charges of theft. A video of this incident had gone viral on social media following which, the chief constable along with the outpost in-charge were suspended.

In a statement last year, Chandauli SP Amit Kumar said that three minors tried to rob a store. However, the owner refused to file charges and instead asked the police to scold the children. After this, Varma and head constable Dilip Kumar beat up the children. Both police officers were suspended in the case.

Chandauli police also clarified on March 20, 2022, that the video is a year old and related to an incident where policemen beat up two minors.

Alt News also reached out to Chandauli’s Balua police station and was confirmed that three children accused of trying to steal from a mobile shop were beaten by cops who were subsequently suspended.

To sum it up, a 2021 video of two policemen beating up a minor over charges of theft were falsely shared as police thrashing a boy for chanting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. The video was also shared with the false claim that the youth assaulted a cow.

Donate to Alt News!
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.

Donate Now

About the Author

Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.