Old photo circulated with false claim of 2 students being killed in police firing
Multiple posts have recently been circulated on social media claiming that two people were killed and 13 others injured when police opened fire on protesting HSC (Higher Secondary Certificate) students. A fact-check by Dismislab found that the image of blood and bullet casings used in the posts is old and unrelated to the claimed incident. The claim that a student was killed by police gunfire is also baseless.
On Facebook, an account under the name “Md. Jahidul Islam” published a post on July 14 containing five images, with a caption that read, “Two killed, 13 injured in police firing during students’ legitimate movement. 07/14/2026.” One of the images shows what appears to be a mobile phone and bullet casings lying in blood on a paved road. The Md Jahidul Islam profile lists its occupation as “Former member, Chattogram South District Chhatra League.”
As of the time of writing, the post had been shared more than 80 times and had received more than 250 reactions. Several other profiles and pages on Facebook were found to have made similar posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
The same image was also used in a post on X, formerly Twitter, from a profile under the name “AHM Tarique.” That post, however, claimed that nine students had been killed, with a caption reading: “Blood-soaked Dhaka: 9 students killed! 15 have been taken away and cannot be located.”
To verify the claim, Dismislab conducted a reverse image search, which led to a Facebook post dated Sept. 2, 2025. Posted by a profile under the name “Afzal Hussain,” the caption read, “When the Evergreen factory in the Uttara Export Processing Zone in Nilphamari district was abruptly shut down, workers launched a protest, and during their peaceful march, one worker was killed by gunfire from the joint forces. I strongly condemn this. Let the protest continue!”
A relevant keyword search uncovered several more posts from Sept. 2, 2025, using the same image (1, 2, 3). All of the posts identified the image as showing the aftermath of a shooting by joint forces at the Uttara Export Processing Zone in Nilphamari district, in northern Bangladesh.
A further keyword search, restricted to that time period, surfaced reports from multiple news outlets covering the same incident (1, 2, 3). All of the reports stated that on Sept. 2, 2025, “a clash between workers and police at the Uttara Export Processing Zone in Nilphamari left one worker dead.” A report by the news outlet Ajker Patrika included a photo that was an edited and blurred version of the recently circulated image. The same scene— bullet-casing-like objects lying in blood — was clearly visible in both images.
Separately, on July 14, HSC students staged protests demanding the resignation of the education minister after exams were held despite severe weather conditions. Dismislab reviewed multiple news reports on the matter using relevant keyword searches. As of the time of writing, no report was found indicating that police had opened fire or that any student had been killed. A report by the news outlet The Daily Campus, however, did confirm that students had been injured during the protest.
In conclusion, the image of blood and bullet casings used in posts claiming that two students were killed and 13 injured is old and unrelated to the incident described, and the claim that police opened fire on protesting students, killing two, is baseless.
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.
