Fact Check: Viral video of mob violence is from Chhattisgarh, not Uttar Pradesh

Social media users claim that the video is from Pratapgarh in Chhattisgarh. Users claim some Hindu activists retaliated after some Muslim men entered the Durga Puja pandal and allegedly vandalized Maa Durga's flag.

"After entering the Durga Puja pandal in Lalganj town of Pratapgarh district, Muslims stopped the worshipers and threw away the flag of Maa Durga. Later, Hindu organizations became active and dragged Muslims out of their homes. The flags of mosques were uprooted and thrown away," translates the caption of the viral post.

Fact Check

The claim is False.

NewsMeter firstly noticed that the number plates of the vehicle in the video are from Chhattisgarh.

NewsMeter then performed a Google Reverse Image Search, which led the team to a few Facebook posts which stated to be of Chattisgarh. The posts were shared with a caption, "Unemployed terrorists of BJP barged into the homes of Muslims in Chhattisgarh's Kawardha district today."

Click here to view more such posts

The Fact Check team then performed a keyword search which led us to a tweet by the UP Police Fact Check Team that had debunked the claim. "The incident in Kawardha, Chhattisgarh on 05.10.2021 is being related to Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh. We refute the claim and a case has also been registered in this regard," UP police tweeted

The team also found a report published by Nayabharat on October 05, 2021. "The cars kept outside the houses were broken, Stones were thrown at the police, There was a ruckus by jamming the national highway," said the report

According to the report, "Kabirdham Collector Ramesh Kumar Sharma imposed curfew in the entire municipal area of Kawardha to maintain public peace. Except for essential services, no citizens of the city can come out of their homes. Section-144 is already in force in Kawardha urban areas. The Collector has appealed to the common citizens to exercise calm and restraint. The Collector said that those who violate the curfew will be punished as per rules. There was a lot of commotion in Kawardha on Tuesday. After the ruckus that started with the raising of the flag two days ago, today a large number of people came out on the road carrying sticks, rods, and sticks. They vandalized the vehicles parked outside the houses. Seeing the uproar, the police resorted to lathi-charge. Hindu organizations have blocked the Kawardha-Jabalpur National Highway. After the disturbance, the administration has imposed a 24-hour curfew. In view of the bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, all the markets and shops in the district were closed."

It is therefore evident that the viral claim is False. The viral video is not from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh but Kawardha in Chhattisgarh.