A video of a person catching what appears to be a tear gas canister and then throwing it away is going viral on social media platforms with users linking it to the recent protests in Nepal.
What did the viral post say?: The X (formerly Twitter) handle named 'Ramraajya' shared the clip with a caption in Hindi that said, "The boy caught the tear gas canister like a cricket ball and threw it away. This video is going viral in Nepal. #Nepalprotest."
What are the facts?: The video could be traced back to at least May 2022, which predates the recent protests in Nepal. This makes the claim false.
How did we find that out?: On conducting a Google Lens search on the keyframes of the viral video, we found the same visuals published on the official Facebook handle of Gulf Today.
This was uploaded on 26 May 2022. Its caption said, "Pakistani protester catches teargas canister, throws it back to the police."
We noticed that a signboard at the left side that said "Total PARCO" that manages service stations and the lubricants business in Pakistan.
This, too, indicated that the video was not from Nepal.
Other sources: An article published by ProPakistani said that the video showed a young Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker catching a tear gas canister and then throwing it away.
The video soon became viral, attracting comments from several social media users on different platforms.
Conclusion: Evidently, the video is old and has no connection to the recent protests in Nepal.
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