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

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.)

(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.

• 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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