Screenshots related to BCL involvement in bus fire and vandalism are edited

Recently, a screenshot (1, 2) of the news published in the online edition of the Daily Desh Rupantar newspaper has been circulating on social media. It is claimed that two Chhatra League activists were arrested by the police while setting fire to a bus in Araihazaar of Narayanganj. However, verification by Dismislab revealed that the news was fake and edited. The original news from which the fake screenshot was derived mentioned the arrest of two BNP workers on charges of arson.

In addition to the edited screenshots, this fake information was circulated on Facebook in text form, citing the Daily Desh Rupantar newspaper. A Facebook page called Dainik Swadhanathar Kantha also circulated the fake information.

Verification shows that on November 13, a news item titled “Two BNP workers arrested while setting fire with the juice bottles filled with petrol” was published in the Daily Desh Rupantar. According to news sources, the police arrested two BNP workers with a total of four bottles of petrol in Araihazaar, Narayanganj. Two people in the picture who were arrested are Md. Apu Mia aka Akash (19), and Md. Faisal Ahmed Mehedi (24). District Police Superintendent Golam Mustafa Rusell confirmed the truth of the incident to the media. In addition to the Daily Desh Rupantar, several media outlets (1, 2, 3) published the news along with pictures of the arrested persons.

Apart from this, another fake news story and screenshots of the arrest of two other Chhatra League workers on the charge of car vandalism were seen circulating on Facebook. However, after checking the screenshot, it can be seen that the arrested persons are Picchi Asad (21) and Salauddin Sohag (19) from Talaimari, Badurtala area of Rajshahi.

According to media reports, police arrested them on November 7 after a video of them demonstrating weapons went viral after they uploaded it on social media. According to police, the arrested are members of local youth gangs.