A video, which shows several people arguing with a man on the streets, is going viral with a claim that it shows an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA arguing with people. The one-minute and 18 seconds long clip shows a woman standing up to the said MLA and attempting to hit him in the heat of the moment.
Who has shared the video?: Congress leader Alka Lamba shared the clip and wrote, "Be wary of the AAP thugs."
An archive of the post can be seen here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
What led us to the truth?: At first, we noticed a watermark on the video that read, "Lok Awaz Punjabi."
The viral video contained a watermark.
(Source: Viral video/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
Taking this as a cue, we performed a keyword search on YouTube and found a channel with the same name.
We found a longer version of the viral clip on the channel uploaded on 28 January.
The video was titled in Punjabi which loosely translates to, "The slapping MLA came in the way of the people | New Punjabi Short Movie|2023|LOK AWAZ Punjabi."
The viral clip could be seen playing at around the 2:29 seconds time stamp.
At around 0:21 second mark, we also found a disclaimer mentioning that the video was created for "entertainment purposes only." It further said that "all the characters and events are fictious and have no relation with any person (sic)."
The longer version of the video contained a disclaimer.
(YouTube/Screenshot)
Actors in the play: The video's description also mentioned the names of all the actors and identified the MLA as one 'Parmnoor'.
A keyword search led us to a Facebook profile of one 'Paramjeet Singh Parmnoor'. The account's bio mentioned that he is an anchor/reporter at Lok Awaz TV.
On comparing Parmnoor's picture with the MLA seen in the extended clip, we found that it was him who played the role.
A comparison shows that it was Parmnoor who played the role of the MLA.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
Further, we went through the 'Lok Awaz Punjabi' YouTube channel and found that these actors are regularly featured in their videos.
A video uploaded on 22 January shows some actors from the viral video enacting different roles.
(Swipe right to see all the comparisons.)
This video showed the same people enacting different roles.
(Source: YouTube/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
Conclusion: The video is a scripted one and does not show the public arguing and beating an AAP MLA in Punjab.
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