Fact Check: Video of cops detaining protestors is from Hyderabad, not Mumbai’s Mira road

Hyderabad: On the eve of the Ram Temple inauguration on January 22, violence reportedly broke out between the Muslim and Hindu communities in Naya Nagar of Mumbai’s Mira Road.

To maintain peace, Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar (MBVV) Police issued an order instructing social media group admins to ensure that no jokes, videos, or other content related to clashes are forwarded. Admins were warned of action in case of order violation.

Now, a video circulating on social media claims to show police action on Mumbai’s Mira Road. An X user shared the video with the hashtag #MiraRoadRiots, stating, “Broke into the house at night in Mira Bhayandar (Translated from Marathi).” The caption suggests that police dragged out young men involved in the Mira Road clash during the night.

NewsMerer found that the claim is false. The video shows Hyderabad police detaining youths from the Zohra colony in Hyderabad’s Shalibanda area in 2022.

Upon a reverse image of the video’s keyframe, we found it on X, posted by Hyderabad-based Journalist, Yunus Lasania, on August 24, 2022. He stated in the post that Hyderabad police arrested protestors from their home after continued protests against the then-suspended BJP MLA Raja Singh, who had passed derogatory remarks on the prophet Mohammad.

A report by The Siasat Daily from August 25, 2022, carried a screengrab with visuals similar to the viral video. As per the report, Hyderabad police forcefully entered homes and arrested numerous Muslim youths in and around the Shalibanda area. The protest was against Singh, who had made derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammad The report also mentioned that Singh received bail the same day after being arrested on August 23, 2022, which enraged the protestors.

Further, on closely examining the video, we noticed a board with the text "SHAFFAF" at the beginning of the video. Using keywords, we found that it is a shop supplying packaged drinking water in Hyderabad. Further, we found the exact location of the board on Google Maps. It is located in Bnaajja Gali 2 in Shalibanda, Hyderabad.

Here are the screengrabs from the viral video and Google Street View showing the board of the shop “SHAFFAF”.

Hence, we conclude that an old video of Hyderabad police arresting protestors is falsely passed off as the police action in Mumbai’s Mira Road.

Earlier, NewsMeter had debunked the same video when it went viral as Uttar Pradesh police arrested youths who were protesting against RSS.