A video of police escorting two masked men off a bus is viral online. It has been claimed that police in Maharashtra’s Amravati captured two terrorists carrying bombs from a bus stop. Facebook user Santosh Rashtravadi shared the footage with this claim. (Archive link)
महाराष्ट्र के अमरावती मे दो आतंकवादी पकडे गये ये बस मे बम ले कर जा रहे थे ।
Posted by सन्तोष राष्ट्रवादी on Saturday, October 23, 2021
A few other Facebook users also amplified the clip and accompanying claim. (Link 1, Link 2)
The video was widespread on Twitter with the same claim.
महाराष्ट्र के अमरावती मे दो आतंकवादी पकडे गये ये बस मे बम ले कर जा रहे थे pic.twitter.com/Qx0kSczjFJ
— हिन्दू स्वाभिमान_KRT🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 (@subashk41062196) October 24, 2021
A number of YouTube channels also uploaded the visuals with the same message.
Fact-check
Alt News performed a keyword search and found a video on YouTube containing scenes from the viral clip. A YouTube channel named ‘Gavran 90’ uploaded the visuals on October 14 at the Paratwada Bus Depot. According to the video title, a mock drill to catch terrorists was conducted at the depot.
Vidarbha Prabhat uploaded an 8-minute long video report on YouTube covering the clip in which a statement by police appears at the 5:35 mark. They explain that the exercise was a mock drill carried out by the Paratwada Police.
We also reached out to the Paratwada Police for more information about the video. Inspector S Mankar told Alt News, “There was no incident of terrorists being captured from the bus stand. On October 14, the Paratwada Rural Police had conducted a mock drill.”
In sum, a video of a mock drill exercise to nab terrorists from a bus depot in Maharashtra was falsely circulated on social media as genuine.
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