Claim of vandalism at DMP office spreads using 2023 video
A video has recently spread on social media with the claim that leaders and activists of Gano Adhikar Parishad vandalized the office of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) following an attack on the party’s president, Nurul Haque Nur. However, verification by Dismislab shows the video is actually from an attack and vandalism at the chief justice’s residence in 2023.
The description of the recently circulated video posted from a Facebook page named “Roktokto Bangladesh,” claimed: “At this moment, in protest of the attack on Gano Adhikar Parishad President Nurul Haque Nur, party leaders and activists have attacked the DMP commissioner’s office. The administration is held hostage by mob terrorists.” Hashtags in the caption included “#August2025,” “#Bangladesh,” “#News,” “#Chhatra League,” “#Sheikh Hasina,” “#Mujib Team,” and “BNP” were used in the caption.
The 1:05minute video shows a crowd breaking open an iron gate and entering inside. As of the writing of this report, the post had been shared more than 100 times (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) on Facebook and received over 300 reactions.
To verify the incident, Dismislab conducted reverse image searches using keyframes from the video. This led to a video report on the verified Facebook page of the daily Bhorer Pata. Its description read: “Attack, vandalism, and cars set on fire at the chief justice’s residence….” The footage from 10 seconds to 1 minute 15 seconds of that report published on October 28, 2023, matches exactly with the video currently being spread with the claim of an “attack on the DMP office.”
Further keyword searches found the same video in reports of multiple news outlets. The verified Facebook page of Maasranga Television also posted a video on October 29, 2023, showing the same scene, with the description: “Bird’s-eye view of the attack on the chief justice’s residence.”
Another video uploaded on the same day on ATN Bangla News’s YouTube channel matched the recently circulated clip. The video report was titled, “How the attack on the chief justice’s residence unfolded.”
Additionally, a report published by Deutsche Welle stated that on October 28, 2023, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had called a mass rally. Before it began, party activists clashed with police. At one stage of the clashes, BNP activists attacked the chief justice’s house, the Rajarbagh Police Hospital, and a police box. They also set fire to several buses and ambulances.
Three days later, on October 31, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement expressing concern over the violence.
Meanwhile, DMP itself labeled the claim false. On its online news portal “DMP News,” the police stated: “Recently, a video has gone viral from a Facebook ID named Mohammad Shah Alam Shikder, where it is claimed that Gano Adhikar Parishad activists attacked the office of the DMP commissioner. This is a completely false and baseless rumor. No such incident actually took place.”
Notably, on the night of August 29, 2025, activists of Jatiya Party and Gano Adhikar Parishad clashed in the capital’s Kakrail. During the incident, several people, including Nurul Haque Nur, were injured in police beating. He was admitted to hospital in critical condition. Following the incident, on Saturday (August 30), Gano Adhikar Parishad and several other political parties announced nationwide protests. Since then, various photos and videos related to the incident have been spreading on social media, including the nearly two-year-old video with the claim that Gano Adhikar Parishad activists had attacked the DMP commissioner’s office.
Disclaimer: The original version of this fact-check report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on August 31, 2025. The English translation was completed later; however, to maintain time accuracy and avoid any potential misinterpretation, the English version has been published with the original publication date.
