Fact Check: Cops dismantling CCTV to erase evidence of Sambhal violence? No, video is from 2020

On November 24, violence erupted in Chandausi, Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district, during protests against a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid. The clashes resulted in five fatalities and left many injured. Police have arrested several individuals and filed cases against 400 people involved in the unrest. In response, the Uttar Pradesh government has initiated a judicial inquiry to investigate the causes and events leading to the violence.

In this context, a video allegedly showing police officers attempting to dismantle a CCTV camera near a petrol pump has been circulating on social media, with claims that Sambhal police were trying to erase evidence related to the recent violence in the area.

An X user shared the video and wrote, “We have not watched The Kashmir Files, but we are witnessing Sambhal Files live. Police officers can clearly be seen breaking cameras installed in homes. These officers’ mobile phones should be checked; only then will it become clear who started and why the riot happened.” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim to be false, as the video was shot in Delhi in 2020.

Upon conducting a reverse image search, we found that the same visuals appeared in a YouTube video from February 2020 titled “Delhi violence: Police break CCTV camera, manhandle protestors at Khureji Khas.” The channel stated that the incident occurred in Khureji Khas, New Delhi, during the Citizenship Amendment Act protests.

We also found a screengrab from the video in a report published by The Quint on February 26, 2020. The report quoted local shopkeepers near the petrol pump seen in the video, who confirmed that the footage was indeed from Khureji Khas. One shopkeeper stated, “The police broke the CCTV cameras that we had put up in our shops too. The one in the video was put up by the protesters at Khureji.”

Scroll.in also reported the video on February 26, 2020, stating that Delhi police had broken CCTV cameras and manhandled protesters at the Khureji Khas anti-CAA protest site. The report emphasised that the incident occurred amid the protests, where police allegedly dismantled security cameras installed by the protesters.

Therefore, we conclude that the video of police officers breaking a CCTV camera at an anti-CAA protest site in Delhi in 2020 has been falsely linked to the recent violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal.