On July 16, as part of the National Citizens’ Party’s (NCP) “March to Gopalganj” program, party leaders and activists went to Gopalganj. Even before their arrival, incidents of attack and vandalism took place at the rally site. Despite that, the party’s leaders and activists held the rally. However, later that afternoon, they were removed from Gopalganj using the army’s APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier).

So far, at least five people have reportedly died in clashes throughout the day between law enforcement agencies and Awami League supporters. Against this backdrop, a Facebook post by Fardin Hasan, a co-spokesperson for the Bangladesh Democratic Students’ Union (BAGCHAS), is being discussed. In a post made at midnight on July 18, he claimed, “Centered around the NCP’s long march, a militia force was preparing to assassinate the heroes of the mass uprising. For this militant operation, they even ran a three-day training camp. But on the day of the rally, all their plans were foiled.”

Following this post, a photo began circulating on social media, with the claim that it shows Mujib Bahini training in Gopalganj.

See the Facebook posts making this claim here, here, and here.
See the X (formerly Twitter) post with the same claim here.

Fact-check

According to an investigation by Rumor Scanner Team, the circulated photo is not from Bangladesh. Rather, it is a photo from 2012, taken during a training session of Maoist members in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

In this regard, a report by Japan-based news outlet AFPBB, part of France-based AFP, uncovered the original photo. The report, published on April 24, 2018, states that the photo was taken on July 8, 2012, in India. At that time, it was reported that Maoist members in Chhattisgarh, central India, were undergoing training.