A video circulating on social media purportedly depicts a recent police raid in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where it is claimed that 15 boys from the Muslim community and 15 girls from the Hindu community were apprehended at a Hukka bar. However, a fact-check investigation reveals a different story. The video in question is not recent and has no connection to Indore. Instead, it is from an incident that took place in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, in 2022.
Old Police Raid Video – Source and Misleading Claims
The misleading clip with false communal claims has been widely circulated, with notable individuals like BJP national spokesperson @Sudanshutrivedi (deleted) and another account @mini_razdan10 [(deleted) Archive] sharing it. The video shows young men and women in compromising situations during what appears to be a police raid. However, these claims do not align with the actual events.
The Actual Incident
The incident occurred in a restaurant located in Sanjay Place, Agra, on July 27, 2022. During a raid, Head Constable Ranjit, Constable Saurabh Kumar, and Constable Gyanendra Singh, all from the Hariparvat police station, arrested young men and women in objectionable conditions within cabins provided by the cafe operator at the rate of Rs 300 per hour. The incident at the cafe in Sanjay Place was not an isolated one. Similar activities had been ongoing in the area for years due to a lack of police action. This encouraged the police to take action, leading to the controversial video. The police recorded a video during the raid, which subsequently went viral after 14 days.
Suspension of Policemen
After the video’s circulation and ensuing public scrutiny, three policemen involved in the incident were suspended by SSP Prabhakar Chaudhary. He held private individuals responsible for tarnishing the police department’s image by leaking the video. To know more about the incident, kindly read reports by Dainik Bhaskar (archive) and by Dainik Jagran (Archive).
Conclusion
The viral video allegedly depicting a police raid in Indore with communal claims is, in fact, an old video from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, with no basis for the religious claims made. Three policemen involved in the incident were suspended, and questions about the raid’s execution and the video’s origin remain unanswered. Following comprehensive analysis and meticulous fact-checking, our team has investigated the claim. You can refer to the findings of this inquiry in the Twitter thread embedded below.
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— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) September 17, 2023
ANALYSIS: Misleading
FACT: A video showing boys and girls in abnormal conditions has been shared claiming that in a police raid, 15 boys and 15 girls were caught by the police at a Hukka bar in Indore and all the girls belonged to the Hindu community, (1/3) pic.twitter.com/45l1KuipoJ
Claim: A video from Indore shows a group of Muslim boys and Hindu girls in a Hookah Bar.
Fact: The video is old and from a raid conducted in Agra, Uttar Pradesh on 27th July 2022. No communal angle was found.