A video is going viral on social media showing a group of individuals assaulting a man. Users sharing the video claim that it took place in Murshidabad, West Bengal. According to the claim, a man named Nazrul Islam was threatening people against voting for a specific political party, which led to the physical altercation.
A User, Deepak Sharma, shared the video with a caption stating that “Nazrul Islam was thrashed in Murshidabad. Islam had gone to threaten Hindus that if they voted for the BJP, they wouldn’t be able to live in West Bengal… then what… some real men stepped up and beat the eunuch so hard they sent him to Nepal.”(English Translation)
The video has also been shared by several other users, including Ocean Jain, Janardan Mishra, Sarpanch Mika Gill, Manisha Chaudhary, and Arun Sharma, all claiming it to be from Murshidabad, West Bengal.
Fact Check:
The DFRAC team’s investigation found that the viral video is not from Murshidabad, West Bengal, but is actually from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and dates back to 2022. The video has no connection to the West Bengal elections.
It shows a protester being beaten by local shopkeepers during an Agniveer protest in Varanasi. A reverse image search of keyframes led to the same video in a report dated June 17, 2022, on the NBT UP-Uttarakhand YouTube channel, captioned: “Agnipath scheme protest: ‘Agniveers’ were forcing a market shutdown in Varanasi; shopkeepers thrashed them soundly.” ( English Translation)
A signboard visible in the video reads “Telephone Colony, Nagar Nigam–Varanasi,” further confirming the location.
During the investigation, the team also identified a board with the name “Double Bull” in the video, along with houses near an open field.
A search on Google Maps showed the same board and surrounding structures, confirming the location seen in the viral video.
Further keyword searches led to reports by Amar Ujala, Zee Bihar-Jharkhand, and Navbharat Times, all identifying the incident as taking place in Varanasi. The Navbharat Times report states: “When chaos broke out in the name of protesting against the Agnipath scheme, shopkeepers took a stand. They thrashed those creating a disturbance under the guise of protest and later handed them over to the police. The anger of local residents in Varanasi remained visible for a long time.”(English Translation)
For additional confirmation, our team contacted Varanasi-based journalist Ashish Kumar, who verified that the video is from an old incident in Varanasi.
Conclusion:
DFRAC’s fact-check confirms that the viral video is not from Murshidabad, West Bengal. It is an old video from Varanasi that is being shared with a communal angle by falsely linking it to the West Bengal elections. Therefore, the claim made by users is misleading.
