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Assam Arrest Video Misused to Spread False Claims About Bangladeshi Immigrants

6 August, 2025 1:46 pm

Recently, the Indian government has launched detention and eviction drives in various states, including Assam, claiming the presence of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. In this context, a video has been circulating on social media. The video shows one person pulling another down from a bamboo ceiling inside a house. The video was shared with a caption that read:
“Lungi gang hiding inside bamboo ceilings in Indian homes—Assam police are arresting them from various states as part of a crackdown against illegal infiltration by Bangladeshi and Rohingya individuals residing in India.”

In other words, the claim is that the video shows the arrest of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam, India.

See examples of Facebook posts sharing this claim here (archive) and here (archive).

See an Instagram post sharing the same claim here (archive).

Notably, the claim appears to originate from accounts based in India.

Fact-Check

The Rumor Scanner Team’s investigation reveals that the circulated video does not show the arrest of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam. Rather, the video shows the arrest of Indian cyber criminals on April 16 in the Morigaon district of Assam. The accused were involved in a fraud case totalling ₹1.27 crore.

A video published on April 17 by Assam-based news outlet NKTV’s Facebook page was found during the investigation. Comparing it with the viral video shows they are identical. Additionally, the NKTV logo is visible in the viral video, confirming that the footage originates from NKTV.

The video caption reads:
“To escape police, they hid on the roof. A night raid led to their arrest—5 criminals were pulled down from the ceiling. The operation was carried out by Mumbai City Cyber Cell in collaboration with Morigaon police.” (Translated)

Further investigation led to a video report published on April 17 on the YouTube channel of Indian news outlet India Today NE. This video includes the same footage. The video description states:
“On the night of April 16, Mumbai Police’s Cyber Cell, in collaboration with Morigaon District Police, conducted a major raid in the Lahorighat area of Assam’s Morigaon district. This joint operation was a crackdown on cybercrime.” (Translated)

Using keywords from this incident, a related report published on April 18 was found on the Hindustan Times website. It states:
“In a well-planned operation, the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested five young men from a remote village in Assam’s Morigaon district. They are accused of orchestrating a large-scale credit card fraud, causing HSBC Bank a loss of ₹1.27 crore. According to investigators, the accused—aged in their 20s and 30s—used fake documents to exploit digital loopholes and identity fraud to obtain 55 HSBC credit cards. Using these, they made luxury purchases and transferred money into multiple fake bank accounts. The accused are: Mohebbur Abdul Rahman (28), Sadikul Islam (27), Elias Rofiqul Islam (25), Abu Bakkar Siddique Ramzan Ali (37), and Mahimuddin Ahmed Abdul Malik (26)—all residents of Morigaon district.” (Translated)

However, nowhere in the available information is it mentioned that the arrested individuals are illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

Additionally, an Indian news outlet Aaj Tak published a fact-check report on July 31. In it, Morigaon’s Additional Superintendent of Police, Samiran Baishya, confirmed:
“All five of the accused seen in the viral video are residents of Morigaon district. None of them are illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. They were arrested for involvement in cybercrime, not for being illegal immigrants.”

Conclusion

The video showing the April 16 arrest of Indian cyber criminals in Assam’s Morigaon district has been falsely circulated as evidence of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants being arrested in Assam. This claim is false.