Bihar footage used in reports on attack on NCP leaders' convoy in Sylhet
On July 30, a group attacked a vehicle carrying Sarjis Alam, chief organiser of the northern region of the National Citizen Party (NCP), in Golapganj, Sylhet. News reports by Nagorik TV and the online news portal The News used footage of a vehicle being vandalized while covering the incident. However, Dismislab’s fact-check found that the footage did not come from Bangladesh. It actually shows an incident from Bihar, India.
On July 30, Nagorik TV’s verified Facebook page published a two-minute and 59-second video report (archive link). The report carried the headline, “What Happened to NCP Leaders in Sylhet!” The first 13 seconds of the report show a vehicle coming under attack.
The verified Facebook page of the online news portal The News also published another 17-second report (archive link). Its headline reads, “Sarjis’s Vehicle Smashed After Attack in Golapganj, Sylhet.” The report also uses the same vehicle vandalism footage during its first 12 seconds.
The same 13-second video was posted from another Facebook profile. The user wrote, “Breaking News: Sarjis Alam received a public beating in Golapganj, Sylhet…😀” Until the publication of this report, the post had received more than 350 shares and over 1,200 reactions.
Several personal Facebook profiles, pages and groups (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) also shared the footage with the same claim.
To verify the claim, Dismislab conducted a reverse image search using key frames from the video. The search led to a Shorts video uploaded to a YouTube channel named Hamirpur Times News. Translated into English, the title of the video, published on July 25, reads, “Protesters Attack an Innova Vehicle During Bihar Bandh in Chhapra.” The visuals in that video match the footage used by the Bangladeshi news outlets.
Dismislab also found a live report on the YouTube channel of Indian Express Bangla. The report published on July 25, carries the headline, “Explosive Situation Over Student Protests in Chhapra, Bihar!” The footage used by the two Bangladeshi news outlets matches the segment from 6:16 to 6:26 of that report.
Further verification through relevant keyword searches found that several news reports have (1, 2, 3) been published by Indian media outlets. According to those reports, protests took place across India, including in the capital Delhi, on July 25 over the recent NEET examination paper leak. As part of the demonstrations, protesters observed a “Bihar Bandh” across the state. Reports also mentioned clashes between protesters and police at several locations. The vehicle vandalism incident took place in Chhapra, Bihar, on that day.
Therefore, the footage that several Bangladeshi news outlets used while reporting the attack on the convoy of NCP leaders actually shows an incident from Bihar, India.
It is worth noting that Sarjis Alam’s vehicle came under attack in Golapganj on July 30. The incident took place while he was leaving a program held at the Golapganj Municipal Auditorium.
All social media captions, quotations, and news excerpts in this article have been translated into English from the languages in which they were originally posted or published.
