Fact Check: Video of police action in Brazil falsely shared as terrorist’s arrest in Srinagar

Hyderabad: With Srinagar going into the poll in the fourth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on May 13, a video of a police vehicle hitting a motorcyclist and apprehending him is doing rounds on social media. The claim accompanying the posts states that it shows commandos arresting a terrorist in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.

“See how the army commandos caught the terrorists in Srinagar. The terrorist was trying to take out the weapon hidden in his jacket. The commando ran and kicked him on his chest so hard that he fell face down with a thud. You can see the enthusiasm of the young man,” wrote an X user who shared the video (Archive).

NewsMeter found that the claim is false as the video is from Brazil.

An examination of the video shows that the police vehicle in it looks different from an Indian police vehicle with even the police siren also being different.

Upon conducting a reverse image search of the video’s keyframe, we found the longer version of the video reported by a Brazilian news outlet, RIC Notícias 24h, on August 3, 2021. According to their report, the video depicts the police apprehending a teenager who was speeding and did not have a driving license.

We also found the video published by the news portal, Obemdito, on August 2, 2021, on Daily Motion. It stated the teenager was detained after he fell off his motorcycle in a police chase. A report by the publication stated that the incident was recorded in the central area of Pérola in Brazil.

Istoe, a Portuguese news magazine from Brazil also reported the 17-year-old boy was detained in Pérola, Brazil. It mentioned that the boy did not have a driving license. He was driving recklessly on the wrong side of the road threatening pedestrians and other vehicles.

Hence, we conclude that the video does not show a terrorist being apprehended in Srinagar. The claim is false.