Old video of arms recovery from BNP activists falsely shared as Awami League’s truckloads of weapons
A video recently spread on Facebook claiming that the army seized truckloads of weapons gathered by the Awami League for its “Lockdown Dhaka” program. But Dismislab’s fact-check shows that the claim is false. The original video is from an Army operation in the Satkhira-3 constituency, where sticks and brick chips were seized as two local BNP factions prepared for clashes after the party announced its primary list of candidates for the upcoming election.
A video shared on Facebook shows soldiers checking vehicles on the road as they take sticks and bricks from several pickups. The caption reads, “Terrible situation! Awami League was bringing truckloads of local weapons to lock down Dhaka on the 13th! Seized in an Army operation!” The video has been shared more than 4,000 times and viewed over 700,000 times. The same 28-second video was also shared by others (1, 2) with captions such as, “The Awami League is entering Dhaka with trucks full of bricks and sticks.” Another user wrote, “On November 13, the Awami League is bringing these into Dhaka to destabilize the country.”
A keyframe search found several video reports (1, 2) published by several news outlets on November 6. According to these reports, a large number of sticks and bricks were seized amid tensions over BNP’s announcement of its candidate for the Satkhira-3 constituency. The colors and designs of the pickups, the clothing of the detained men, and the seized items seen in the recently circulated Facebook video match exactly with those seen in the video published by media outlets.
Keyword searches returned several online reports (1, 2, 3) as well. According to these reports, tensions rose in Satkhira-3 (Kaliganj–Assasuni) on November 6 after rival supporters of BNP’s nominated candidate Kazi Alauddin and Shahidul Alam, who did not receive the party ticket, announced separate programs. According to an army press release, they received information that a group of saboteurs was preparing for clashes with sticks, bricks, slingshots, iron balls, and sharp weapons. A special patrol from the Kaliganj Army Camp then conducted an operation in the Phultala area. Army members detained four people and seized four vehicles—one mini-truck and three pickups – which were handed over to police. Sticks, bricks, slingshots, iron pipes, and sharp metal pieces were also recovered.
In short, an old video of local weapons being seized from BNP activists is now circulating with the false claim that the Awami League brought truckloads of weapons for its Lockdown Dhaka. The claim is false.
