AI-generated video circulates claiming DMP commissioner confirmed arrest of BNP activist for arson attack on public transport
A video spread on Facebook shows the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner confirmed the arrest of a BNP activist while setting a bus on fire. In the same video, he is seen urging bus and truck owners to halt operations. However, a fact-check by Dismislab found that the commissioner’s statement was created with artificial intelligence (AI).
A 16-second video was posted on November 12 from a Facebook page named “Amora Harbona.” The video shows the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner speaking. The caption reads, “The DMP commissioner is requesting that buses, trucks, and other vehicles remain off the road tomorrow.” Several hashtags were added referring to the November 13 Dhaka lockdown program called by the Awami League party. At the time of writing this report, the video had been shared more than 500 times. Several other Facebook pages and profiles also posted the video (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
The video shows Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Mohammad Sajjat Ali speaking at a press conference. He is heard saying, “We arrested one BNP member while he was setting a bus on fire. They are doing these things to blame the Awami League. I am requesting all bus and truck owners’ associations, please keep your vehicles off the street on the 13th.”
A logo resembling Channel 24 appears at the top right corner of the video. The graphics closely resemble Channel 24, though the number “24” is missing. Some Bangla letters appear inside the logo that do not form any word or meaning.
A reverse image search of the video led to a report published on November 11 on Channel 24’s YouTube channel containing the same scene. There, DMP Commissioner Sheikh Mohammad Sajjat Ali is heard discussing security preparations for the “lockdown program” called by the Awami League. In the 3:38-minute report, no part of the commissioner’s statement matches that in the video posted from the “Amora Harbona” page. Even the commissioner’s voice in the Channel 24 report does not match the voice in the 16-second video circulating on social media.
A watermark labeled “Veo” appears in the bottom right corner of the circulated video. Veo is a Google artificial intelligence video-generation model.
In other words, the video showing the DMP commissioner confirming the arrest of a BNP activist during a bus arson attempt and urging bus and truck owners to halt transport operations was edited using AI.
