Recently, a video has been circulated online with the claim: “When coordinators tried to incite a mob in Comilla, the army caught them and gave them a heavy dose of therapy.”
In the video, some masked individuals are seen rolling on a bridge, and a few of them are being beaten by army personnel.
Watch the video circulated on Facebook with the claim here (Archive), and here (Archive).
Fact-check
Rumor Scanner Team’s investigation reveals that the circulated video does not depict any recent incident involving beatings by the Bangladesh Army. Rather, a video that has been available online since at least April 2021 has been shared under the discussed claim.
In this investigation, by reverse image searching key frames of the video, a video was found on the YouTube channel named ABIDUR ISLAM SHAJIB, published on April 18, 2021, with the caption “Bangladesh Army Punishment // বাংলাদেশ সেনাবাহিনীর শাস্তি”. The circulated video under the claim matches this video.
Additionally, the video was also shared on the Facebook page TV TIME Live on July 1, 2021, with the caption: “Just stepped out to see the lockdown—Jessore. Stay home, stay safe”.
Moreover, on July 1 of the same year, the Facebook page Jm Khan shared it with the caption (unaltered spelling): “Shutdown is happening, tailor named Babaji… nothing serious, just some friends went out to hang”, and the page Fruticaツ shared it with the caption: “All the friends went out together, the rest is history”.
None of the mentioned sources provide any detailed information about the video. Observing the upload time and captions suggests that the videos are from the COVID-19 pandemic period in 2021. Although it’s not confirmed where or when the video was recorded, it is certain that it is an old video. Naturally, the video is not related to the July movement or current events.
Therefore, a video online since at least April 2021 is being falsely shared with claims that the army severely punished coordinators attempting to incite a mob in Cumilla. This claim is misleading.
Sources
- ABIDUR ISLAM SHAJIB: Bangladesh Army Punishment // বাংলাদেশ সেনাবাহিনীর শাস্তি
- TV TIME Live: Facebook Video
- Jm Khan: Facebook Video
- ফ্রুটিকাツ: Facebook Video
