Guwahati: A video showing police personnel shooting at protesters in Assam is doing rounds on social media. The video, which has the potential to add fuel to the ongoing CAA fire, is actually false and out of context.
In the video, people can be seen protesting, following which security personnel open fire at them and then an ambulance arrives. This footage is being circulated to be from the ongoing protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 in Assam. However, in reality, it is from a mock drill by Jharkhand’s Khunti Police from 2017.
Check out the video which was uploaded on YouTube on November 1, 2017 by a user:
The same video was used earlier this year as well after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. After fact-checking, the video was debunked by boomlive.in.
Also Read: Several trains cancelled due to anti-CAA agitation in West Bengal
Additionally, search results showed that the same video was previously viral with the false claim that it showed Madhya Pradesh police firing at farmers in Mandsaur. This claim was debunked by Alt News on July 11, 2018.
Also, PIB India has also debunked the same video and tagged it as “fake”.
Claim: A video is doing the rounds on Social Media as police shooting at #CAA protesters in #Assam.
Reality: This is a mock drill video by Jharkhand Police two years ago.
Conclusion: #Fakenews pic.twitter.com/IWaLW1hmjt
— PIB India (@PIB_India) December 17, 2019
Pan-India protests are on against Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 which grants citizenship to non-Muslim minorities who faced religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and had entered India before December 31, 2014.
Agitation against the Act turned ugly and violent in several parts of India, including the Northeast where six people reportedly lost their lives. We appeal everyone to trust news and videos only from verified sources during sensitive moments such as these.