Hasnat Abdullah, the chief organizer of the National Citizens’ Party (NCP) Southern Region, made a Facebook post claiming that a new political strategy named ‘Refined Awami League’ was presented from the cantonment. This post sparked intense discussions and criticisms in the country’s political arena.
Amid this sequence of events, on March 24, the Chief of Army Staff, General Wakar-uz-Zaman, held a meeting with army officers at Dhaka Cantonment (source). A day before, on the night of March 23, a video began circulating on social media claiming that ‘the 9th Division of the Bangladesh Army from Savar is advancing towards Dhaka.’ The video shows more than a hundred army personnel moving forward.
See the Facebook posts propagating this claim here: here (archive), here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
The video was also aired on the Indian news channel ‘Aaj Tak’. In one corner of the video, they mentioned that its authenticity had not been verified. However, retired Indian Army Colonel Deeptangshu Chowdhury claimed it was footage from the night of March 23 in Savar. The program’s host also echoed the same claim.
Fact-Check
Rumor Scanner Team’s investigation found that this video does not depict a recent movement of the Bangladesh Army’s 9th Infantry Division towards Dhaka. Instead, this video has been available online for at least one and a half years.
An investigation into the video revealed that it was found in a post by a Facebook page named ‘InFormative Bangla’ on September 7, 2023.
The following day, on September 8, 2023, another Facebook page named ‘Md. Rasel’ shared the same video (source) with a caption claiming that it depicted a night drill by the Bangladesh Army.
Although the Rumor Scanner investigation could not find any reliable sources confirming the exact location or context of the video, it is certain that the footage is not from any recent event.
Conclusion
Therefore, an old video that surfaced online at least one and a half years ago is now being falsely claimed as recent footage showing the Bangladesh Army’s 9th Infantry Division advancing towards Dhaka. This claim is false.
Sources
- InFormative Bangla: Facebook Post
- Md. Rasel: Facebook Post
