AI Video Promoted Claiming to Show Assault on Detainee’s Head in Front of Police

9 July, 2025 2:35 pm

Recently, a video circulating on the social media platform Facebook shows a man striking the head of a handcuffed detainee with a stick from behind while police officers stand nearby. One version of the circulated video claims that the detainee in police custody is involved with the Awami League’s politics, and the person who hit him with the stick is his neighbor and affiliated with an opposition political party.\

Watch such videos shared on Facebook Here (Archive), Here (Archive), and Here (Archive).

Fact Check

An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team found that the video showing someone hitting the detainee’s head with a stick while in police custody is not real. In fact, the circulated video was created by distorting an image of accused Junel being presented in court in connection with the student murder case in Kulaura, Moulvibazar, using artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

In the investigation into the video, a reverse image search revealed reports published in mainstream media outlet Daily Samakal and local Moulvibazar news website Patakuri Desh, which contained images of the accused and police officers as seen in the viral video.

Upon reviewing the image used in those reports, it was found that the visuals in the viral video and the image published by the media were taken at the same location.

Additionally, in the images, the detainee is seen being held in the same manner. The reports also mention that the photo was taken at Moulvibazar Senior Judicial Magistrate Court No. 5. Recently, a person named Junel Mia was arrested in Kulaura for allegedly murdering a female student by strangulation after a failed rape attempt. On June 19, police presented Junel in court to record a statement under Section 164. However, neither of the reports mentioned any assault on him that day. No other sources have reported such an incident either. Furthermore, there is no information available about his political affiliations.

Further analysis of the video by the Rumor Scanner team revealed a watermark in the bottom right corner reading “MINIMAX | Hailuo Ai.” Investigation found that Hailuo Ai is an advanced AI tool developed by a Chinese artificial intelligence company called Minimax, capable of generating six-second realistic videos from text prompts. This video is also six seconds long.

To further verify the matter, the video was tested using AI content detection platform Cantilux, which estimated an 85% probability that the video was AI-generated.

It is worth noting that since the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, there have been incidents where several former ministers, state ministers, Members of Parliament, and Awami League leaders arrested in murder cases have been attacked in front of the courts in the presence of police. Incidents of throwing eggs and physical assaults have also occurred.

Therefore, an AI-generated video was falsely promoted as footage of an assault on a detainee in police custody, which is misleading.