Not Nupur Sharma's Arrest, This Video Shows Farmers' Protest in Rajasthan

The woman seen in the video is identified as Bhumi Birmi, and not Nupur Sharma as claimed.

The claim states that the video shows the arrest of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Amid the row around Nupur Sharma's derogatory comments on Prophet Muhammad, a video showing a woman being held by women police personnel is shared on social media with the claim that it shows the arrest of suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

Sharma sparked a massive controversy in India and abroad after making offensive comments against the Prophet on a prime-time Times Now debate show on 26 May. Although Sharma has multiple FIRs registered against her, there has been no report of her arrest yet.

However, we found that the woman seen in the video is not Nupur Sharma, but Churu district president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Women Wing) Bhumi Birmi.

The video showed clash between protesting farmers and police near the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's (SDM) office in Rajasthan's Churu district.

CLAIM

The video is being shared along with the claim stating, "Nupur Sharma is arrested."

The video has over eight lakh views and 38,000 likes on Facebook at the time of writing this article.

An archive of the tweet can be found here. 

More archived links can be seen here, here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

While looking closely at the viral video, at 0:09, the insignia on the police uniform could be seen.

The police insignia can be seen in the video. 

A search on Google showed that it is of Rajasthan police.

Viral video (L), Screengrab from Rajasthan Police (R). 

Taking a cue from here, we searched with relevant keywords, and found a similar video published on the news website of Hindi daily Patrika.

The video's title translated to 'In Taranagar, farmers and police clashed with each other.'

It was reported from Rajasthan's Churu, and the video was published on 16 June. However, the video was taken from a different angle.

We compared both the visuals and found similarities.

Viral Video (L), Video from Patrika (R). 

Next, we conducted a keyword search on Facebook, and found the video (watch below) published by a user on 16 June.

The user identified the woman as Bhumi Birmi, and talked about her participation in farmers' protest.

Meanwhile, a keyword search further led us to an article published on Hindi news channel ABP News, which has the mention of Bhumi Birmi.

The article read that the All India Kisan Sabha meeting in Churu's Taranagar Assembly constituency turned violent, as demonstrators tried to break barricades, and tried to enter the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's (SDM) office.

We also found the Facebook profile of Birmi, and her bio read that she is the district president (women's wing) of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Churu.

While going through the videos section on her profile, we found the video posted there on 15 June.

Clearly, Birmi has been misidentified as Nupur Sharma, and the video is being shared on social media falsely claiming that the suspended BJP spokesperson has been arrested.

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