Video of civilians lathi-charged for not wearing masks is from MP

A video shared on social media shows a man in civilian clothes and a cop beating those not wearing masks. It has been shared on two different claims.

CLAIM 1: Dr Sarveshwar Bhure, Collector of Chhattisgarh’s Durg district

Twitter user Devesh tweeted this 20-second video and wrote, “Now this is how a collector should be. They should do this in our Raipur as well.” It amassed more than 5,900 views at the time of writing. (Archive link)

कलेक्टर हो तो ऐसे। हमारे रायपुर मे भी ऐसा होना चाहिए । @ipskabra @ankidurg @CG_Police pic.twitter.com/t3EGV802V9

— देवेश (@DeveshDew) April 2, 2021

The final few seconds of this clip are being shared separately, with users identifying the man in civilian clothes as Dr Sarveshwar Bhure, Collector of Chhattisgarh’s Durg district. Twitter handle ‘GM NEWS MP-CG’ also identified him as the Collector of Durg. (Archive link)

दुर्ग – कलेक्टर डॉक्टर सर्वेश्वर भूरे ने भांजी लाठी।डंडा लेकर सड़क पर निकले। बिना मास्क लगाए दुकानदारों पर चलाया डंडा। बिना मास्क वाले वाहन चालक भी कलेक्टर के चपेट में आये। दुर्ग जिले में रोजाना हजार के ऊपर कोरोना मामले आ रहे है। लोगों पर सख्ती बरतने अब प्रशासन सड़क पर । pic.twitter.com/WLt5EcQOtw

— GM NEWS MP-CG (@GMNEWS33195849) April 2, 2021

We also received a request to investigate the clip on Alt News official mobile app.

CLAIM 2: Video from Bhilwara

The same clip has been shared as police excess in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara.

भीलवाड़ा में चालु हो गया प्रोग्राम सभी सावधानी बरतें 👇👇👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/7hSMBl1IZm

— गुरुजी {कलयुग से} (@FROMKALYUG) April 6, 2021

It has been shared on both Twitter and Facebook.

Fact-check

Durg Collector Dr Sarveshwar Bhure himself posted a screenshot of the video and issued a tweet stating neither was he in the video nor were the visuals from Durg.

This video is getting viral in my name and in the name of district collector Durg Bhilai. Person in this video is not me and this video is not related to District Durg. Please use mask, take care of elderly. Behave responsibly. pic.twitter.com/kaN31EROOQ

— Sarveshwar Bhure IAS (@SarveshNBhure) April 2, 2021

After taking a closer look, we noticed a hoarding of a shop in the background which reads ‘Vardhman Enterprise, Chhota Nagda’. Nagda is a city in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district.

Alt News performed a keyword search and came across a post by Facebook user Surendra Shekhawat Kesur stating that the scenes are from Nagda (Chhota Nagda) village in the Badnawar region. He identified the man with the stick as SDM Virendra Katare.

YouTube channel ‘Dhar News Channel’ uploaded a video dated March 31 where the scenes from the viral clip appear between 0:44 and 1:00 mark. The channel informed that the police launched a ‘Roko Toko’ campaign due to rising COVID-19 cases in the Dhar area. SDM Virendra Katare of Badnavar was patrolling the streets, issuing challans to those without masks, and beating them with a stick.

On March 31, Nai Dunia reported that the police had begun taking strict action against defaulters amid the rise in COVID-19 cases in Badnawar. The article states, “SDM Virendra Katare himself came with a stick in hand to beat those without masks in an effort to get residents to follow the mandated guidelines.”

A video of people beaten up for not wearing masks in Nagda, Madhya Pradesh was falsely shared as Chhattisgarh’s Durg. Several users also claimed the incident took place in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara.