Did Locals Drive Away Chinese Soldiers After Their Infiltration into Arunachal Pradesh?

A video is being shared on social media in connection with the alleged infiltration of Chinese soldiers into Arunachal Pradesh. It is being claimed that Chinese soldiers attempted to enter Indian territory, following which local residents confronted them and drove them away.

On Facebook, a user named Rahul With Reality shared the viral video and wrote: “Reports circulating on social media claim that people in Arunachal Pradesh confronted Chinese personnel who were allegedly trying to enter Indian territory. This incident has drawn attention to concerns over border security and the people living in border areas. However, the exact details of this alleged confrontation have not yet been independently verified. India’s border security is a matter of national importance. #ArunachalPradesh #IndiaChinaBorder #IndianArmy #BorderSecurity”

Another user, Bharat 9, also shared the viral video and wrote: “Attempted infiltration by the Chinese Army in Arunachal Pradesh? Claim of locals driving them away goes viral!” #ArunachalPradesh #ChinaArmy #IndiaChinaBorder #IndianArmy BorderNews Bharat9 BreakingNews IndiaNews ViralNews NationalSecurity

Fact Check

To investigate the claim accompanying the viral video, DFRAC conducted a reverse search of the video’s keyframes. During this process, we found a similar video on Instagram and Facebook. The video had been shared three days earlier by a user named Sunil Kunwar. He captioned the video “Woyl”. It is worth noting that Wayal is a village located in the Doti district of Nepal.

Taking the investigation further, we examined Sunil Kunwar’s Instagram and Facebook accounts. During this process, we found that the account belongs to someone from Doti, Nepal.

Along with this, we continued investigating the viral video and found several other similar videos. These can be viewed here, here, here, here and here. The captions accompanying these videos reveal that the footage is from the “Wayal Dashain Purnima Mela”.

It is worth mentioning that Dashain is Nepal’s longest festival, lasting two weeks. People celebrate it by returning home to be with their families, flying kites, playing cards, buying new clothes and organising colourful processions. The festival is generally celebrated in September-October.

In this regard, we also spoke with Ashok Adhikari, a journalist with Madheshi Times based in Nepal. He confirmed that “the viral video is indeed from Wayal village in Nepal’s Doti district.” He also dismissed the claim that the video is from Arunachal Pradesh.

Conclusion

DFRAC’s investigation found the claim that Chinese soldiers infiltrated Arunachal Pradesh and were driven away by local residents to be misleading. The viral video is actually related to the Dashain Purnima Mela organised in Wayal village in Nepal’s Doti district. Therefore, sharing this video as an incident of infiltration along the India-China border is false.