Fact Check: Video of kidnapping from fuel station is from Saudi Arabia not UP
A 45-second CCTV video of a pump attendant being kidnapped and pushed inside a car is going viral on social media
By Newsmeter Network Published on 19 Oct 2021 4:45 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A 45-second CCTV video of a pump attendant being kidnapped and pushed inside a car is going viral on social media and many are claiming that this incident is from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh.
The clip shows a black car inside a gas station where a person is seen filling the tank. Moments later, another person opens the back door and the person next to him forces him inside and the driver speeds away.
While sharing the video, a Facebook user wrote in the caption in Hindi, that read, "Look at the development of thieves in Ramrajya. They kidnapped the gas station worker because his pocket had cash from the entire day's earnings. This incident took place in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh."
Original claim:
रामराज्य में विकास देखिए चोरों का।
पेट्रोल डालने वाले कर्मचारी को ही ले गए क्योंकि उसकी जेब में दिन भर का पेट्रोल का कैश था उत्तरप्रदेश के बदायूं की घटना.
Fact Check
The claim is false.
NewsMeter isolated the keyframes of the video using the InVid tool and did a reverse image search. We found a screenshot of the same video in a report by Gulf News. This report was published on 2 October 2021. According to the report, three Saudi citizens were arrested for kidnapping a gas station worker in the Saudi Arabian city of Hail.
According to the news report, Lieutenant Colonel Sami al-Shammari, media spokesman for Hail police, said "The security follow-up to the crimes of assault on persons resulted in the arrest of three citizens who committed two incidents of assault and robbery against residents working in two gas stations. They were in possession of narcotics when they were arrested."
https://mykuwaits.com/world/
https://www.eremnews.com/
We found a post uploaded on the official Twitter handle of Saudi Arabia Public Security in September 2021. It has been said in the tweet that the criminals who carried out the incident were arrested and taken into custody.
The news website named Arab Times also reported about the same incident.
On searching, the team could not find any recent news report about a kidnapping incident in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh.
Hence, the claim is false, as the incident took place in Saudi Arabia, not in Uttar Pradesh.
