Unrelated Clip Viral as Muslims Targeting Hindus With Weapons in West Bengal

This video is from Bangladesh and does not pertain to India, as claimed

Fact-Check: This clip is from Bangladesh and not India.

(Source: The Quint) 

A video is being shared on social media claiming to show Muslims carrying weapons targeting Hindu residences in West Bengal.

• The caption read, "Jihadis in Bengal challenging Hindus to go out of the house with a sharp sword in their hands. This will be seen in Kerala tomorrow or the day after tomorrow." (sic.)

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: Facebook) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false. The video is from Bangladesh and shows a fight between two groups in Narayanganj around 20 June.

What we found: At first, we divided the video into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• We came across a Facebook post featuring the same video from 20 June.

• The caption noted was in Bangla and noted that some notorious groups fought near the area adjacent to the Bandar Railway Line in Narayanganj district, which is in Bangladesh.

• We found the same clip on YouTube which also noted about a group indulging in notorious activities in Narayanganj.

Here is a preview of the video.

(Source: YouTube) 

• A report by Press Narayanganj 24 from 21 June which featured frames matching with the viral clip.

• It noted that fights erupted between two factions of teenage groups for dominance over an auto-rickshaw station in the Bandar Bus Stand region of Bandar Upazila in Narayanganj on 20 June.

• At least eight people sustained injuries during the prolonged conflict, with two of them being transported to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in serious condition.

• As reported by police and local sources, the two factions (the Roni-Jafar faction and the Babu-Mehedi faction) which are associated with former councillor and ousted Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Hannan Sarkar, have engaged in a prolonged conflict over control in the Hafizi Bagh vicinity of Bandar Shahi Mosque.

• The police arrived at the location and managed to stabilise the situation, with extra officers sent to the area.

• We also reached out to Tanvir Mahatab Abir, a journalist and fact-checker in Bangladesh who confirmed that there was no communal issue in this case and a clash between two local groups.

Conclusion: An unrelated clip has gone viral on social media platforms with a misleading claim about Muslims targeting Hindus with weapons in West Bengal.

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