Fact Check: Islamic scholar assaulted in India? No, video is from Bangladesh

Hyderabad: A purported CCTV footage of a man in a skull cap being attacked has gone viral. Those sharing the clip claim it shows an Islamic religious scholar being assaulted in a hate crime.

In the video, the man is seated at a table in a room when he is thrashed by the attacker, who grabs the man’s beard and slaps him. We can see bystanders trying to intervene to stop the assailant.

Although the location of the incident is not mentioned, the Hindi caption suggests that the Muslim religious scholar in the video was assaulted by Hindus in India.

An Instagram account shared the video with the caption, “Friends, share this so much that this ignorant and terrorist person gets arrested. This b*d has no right to beat any #Alim_e_Deen (religious scholar) in this manner.”

An X user also shared the video with the caption, “A person came and suddenly started beating a Muslim man by grabbing his beard! Hatred has become such a poison in society that it is now visible at every step. A Muslim identity is enough for the persecution of Muslims. They can become victims of hatred and mob lynching at any time because of their beard, cap, and identity! The most regrettable thing is that this hatred has the protection of those in power.” (Translated from Hindi)

Similar claims can be found here, here and here.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false, as both individuals are from the same community and the incident is from Bangladesh.

A reverse-image search of the video’s keyframes led us to a News18 report published on June 28, which included a screengrab from the footage.

According to the report, the CCTV footage of a computer shop in Ghior, Bangladesh, shows a customer, identified as Nasim Bhuiyan, becoming enraged after the shopkeeper, Ali Azam Manik, asked him to wait while attending to another client.

The enraged Nasim grabs Manik by the beard, repeatedly slapping him and damaging shop property, including a monitor valued at about 15,000 taka. Manik was later taken to Ghior Upazila Health Complex for treatment. The report also mentioned that the police have received a formal complaint, opened an investigation, and Nasim has reportedly admitted to the assault.

According to a June 24 report by Bangladeshi media outlet BD News, the victim, Ali Azam Manik (32), runs a computer shop offering services such as photocopying, online applications and photography. He is the son of Selim Hossain Dulal from Teroshree Bahadurpur village in the upazila. The accused, Nasim Bhuiya (45), is a tin trader in the upazila market and the son of Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiya, also known as Bacchu Bhuiya, of Ghior Bazar area.

The report quoted Manik as saying, “Around 9 pm on Monday, June 23, Nasim Bhuiya came to my shop and said he needed some urgent work done. At the time, I was serving another customer, so I asked him to wait a while. Nasim became angry, grabbed my beard, pulled it and hurled abusive language at me. At one point, he punched and slapped me repeatedly. Hearing my screams, locals and customers rushed in, but Nasim threatened that he would not let me continue my business here and would break my arms and legs.”

The report also cited Ghior Police Station OC Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, confirming that the victim has filed a case with the police.

Bangladeshi Jamuna Television published a video report on the incident on June 27, captioned, “Man arrested in Manikganj for harassing trader by pulling his beard.”

Another Bangladeshi media outlet, NTV, reported on June 27 that police have arrested Nasim Bhuiya, the sole accused in the assault on Manik Computer owner Ali Azam Manik. The arrest was confirmed by Manikganj Additional Superintendent of Police Imtiaz Mahmud.

Therefore, we conclude that the video neither shows an Islamic scholar being assaulted nor is it from India. The claim is false.