The story uses only screenshots and not the actual viral video in view of the graphic nature of the clip.
A video is viral on WhatsApp in particular with the claim that a house painter, hailing from the town of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, has been shot dead by an unknown assailant in Kerala.
This graphic video shows a man, who appears to be painting a wall while standing on a wooden support, shot from a close distance, at least seventeen times in a space of 13 seconds.
Alt News received multiple requests on its WhatsApp helpline to verify the video. Some messages said the incident was from Uttarakhand, some said Noida.
On WhatsApp, the video is accompanied by a recorded voice message (attached below) which says the following:
“This is an incident from Kerala. See if anyone can recognize this painter. Check if he belongs to someone’s family, or is a relative to someone. See what has happened to him. He is from Rampur zilla, identify him if you know him.”
On X, a user named स्वतंत्र पत्रकार (@journalistkk01) shared the video stating the incident could be from Muzaffarnagar district.
Fact Check
We ran a reverse image search on one of the key frames from the clip and came across an X post from June 29.
⚠️DOIDEIRA! Criminoso grava vídeo assassinando um homem conhecido como “Olhão” no bairro Novo Aleixo, em Manaus.
Sem censura: https://t.co/JAhIm11oaB pic.twitter.com/aXE9VhDYLf
— BAÚ DO RIO OFC (@baudorio) June 29, 2024
The Portuguese caption, when translated to English, reads: “CRAZY! Criminal records video murdering a man known as “Olhão” in the Novo Aleixo neighborhood, in Manaus.”
Taking a cue from this, we ran a relevant keyword search on Google, and came across this news report, which states that the victim from the viral video, identified as Lucas Pereira, was murdered by unknown gunmen while working on a construction site at a house in the Novo Aleixo neighbourhood in the city of Manaus in Brazil.
We also found a video uploaded by Portal do Holanda, which, according to its YouTube bio, is ‘…the most read news website in Amazonas and the North region of Brazil.’ It reports on the same incident, and features footage of the crime scene.
Another news report states that Pereira had an open arrest warrant issued against him by the court, after being tried for drug trafficking in April 2024. Based on videos circulating on social media, the report also speculated on the victim’s connection to members of criminal factions in Manaus involved in feuds for control of drug trafficking.
We also found that UP police had put out a statement rejecting the claims that the incident was from Muzaffarnagar.
To sum up, the viral video of a painter/construction worker shot dead is from Manaus, Brazil. The victim, Lucas Pereira, faced a slew of drug-related charges, and the investigation into his murder is on. The video has no connection to India.
Prantik Ali is an intern at Alt News.
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