Fact Check: Karnataka cop thrashes detainee with belt in police station? No, video is from UP

Hyderabad: A video circulating on social media shows two men, one in police uniform and the other in plain clothes, restraining a man against a pillar while another uniformed officer thrashes him with a belt, reportedly inside a police station.

The footage also shows women officers seated at a table nearby. The video is being widely shared with the claim that the incident took place at a police station in the Uttara Kannada district.

The video also contains audio in Kannada, the translation of which reads, “The State home minister must answer who gave the police the authority to beat a person in this manner. This is rowdy behaviour by police station officials. Where will the public find justice? An investigation must be initiated against this police officer.”

A Facebook user described the incident as a human rights violation and called out the Uttara Kannada District Police and the Karnataka State Police. Tagging Karnataka home minister Dr G Parameshwara, the user questioned, “Is this a state government order? The state home minister must respond. The people of the state have a right to know. Are such actions permitted in our police stations?” (Archive)

A similar claim can be found here.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading, as the video is from Uttar Pradesh.

A reverse image search of keyframes from the video led us to the same footage featured in a report by Amar Ujala published on April 24. According to the report, the incident took place at Mungra Badshahpur police station in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh.

The man seen in the video was identified as Taufiq, son of Farooq Ahmed and a resident of Hemapur Tarahthi. He was brought to the station following a family dispute, after the opposing side filed a complaint against him for assault and abuse. Taufiq alleged that the police extorted Rs 26,000 from the opposing party and then brutally assaulted him using a belt and chairs.

After the video went viral, Jaunpur SP Dr Kaustubh temporarily removed officer Vinod Kumar Mishra from his duties and appointed Dilip Kumar Singh as the new in-charge of Mungra Badshahpur police station.

UP Tak published the viral footage in a video report on April 25, stating that the incident took place at Mungra Badshahpur police station in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh.

However, the media outlet reported a different version, reporting that the youth in the video being beaten up had allegedly given money to the station-in-charge, Vinod Mishra, for some work. When the work was not completed despite payment, the youth asked for his money back. In response, the officer allegedly assaulted him brutally.

On April 24, The Print reported that, according to sources, the man had allegedly paid a bribe to the SHO to get some work done. When the work was not carried out, he asked for his money back, prompting the SHO to allegedly assault him.

The report also quoted Jaunpur Superintendent of Police Dr Kaustubh, who stated, “A time-bound departmental inquiry into the incident, to be overseen by Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Shailendra Pratap Singh, with a deadline of seven days, has been initiated following the video.”

NewsMeter could not independently verify the reason behind Officer Vinod Mishra’s assault on Taufiq. However, we can confirm that the video is from Uttar Pradesh, not Karnataka. Therefore, the claim is misleading.