In Dhaka’s Uttara Diyabari area, in the Milestone School area, on July 21, a warplane of the Air Force crashed. In that context, at deep night around 3 a.m. on July 22, the government announced the suspension of the HSC and equivalent exams of that day. Due to these events, on July 22 students gathered in front of the main gate of the Secretariat demanding the resignation of the Education Adviser and the Education Secretary. At that time, there was a clash with police and army personnel and students.
In this context, on July 23, on social media two photos were circulated claiming, “Yesterday (July 22) wearing army uniform, a camp leader fired shots at students.”
See the Facebook-circulated posts with such claims here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
See the post circulated on X here (archive).
Fact-check
The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation reveals that the man wearing a shirt and tie and the person in army uniform shown in the circulated posts are not the same. They are two different individuals. Neither of them is a Shibir leader. In fact, one of the photos is of Bangladesh Army Lance Corporal Asadul Islam, and the other is of Absar Hasan Rana, a leader of the banned organization Bangladesh Chhatra League.
Upon investigating the photo of the man in a shirt and tie shown in the circulated posts, a Facebook post published on July 23 was found on an account named Absar Hasan Rana, which included screenshots of several photos related to the claim. The post stated:
“… For your information, yesterday a big brother said that the man in the army photo looked exactly like me. Then I jokingly put my photo next to his and mocked him. Today I see History Consciousness has made me a Shibir [member]…”
Further observation of that Facebook account reveals more photos that match the image of the man in shirt and tie circulating with the claim. The account analysis confirms the account is genuine, and the person’s name is Absar Hasan Rana. In his Facebook bio, it says:
“Deputy Secretary for Programs and Planning | Bangladesh Chhatra League, Central Executive Committee.”
So, the photo of the man in shirt and tie is that of Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Absar Hasan Rana. The false claim originated from a joking Facebook post by Rana himself.
Next, regarding the man in army uniform: A video was found on the Facebook page of online media outlet Dhaka Mail, published on July 21, with the caption, “This army man became exhausted rescuing children in the plane crash!”. Upon reviewing the video, it was confirmed that the circulated image was taken from this footage.
Further investigation found another video, posted on July 24 on Dhaka Mail‘s Facebook page, titled “False propaganda against army member, storm of criticism on Facebook”. In the video, it is stated that the army member in question is named Mohammad Asadul Islam Asad, and he serves as a Lance Corporal in the Bangladesh Army.
Later, the Facebook account of Asadul Islam was found. Upon reviewing his account, multiple photos of him in army uniform were found, including the exact photo used in the circulating claim. Comparing those confirms the man in the circulated photo in army uniform is indeed the army member Asadul Islam.
Therefore, the two circulated images depict two separate individuals.
Conclusion
The claim that “a camp leader wearing army uniform fired shots at students” is false.
Sources
- Absar Hasan Rana – Facebook Post
- Absar Hasan Rana – Facebook Post
- Absar Hasan Rana – Facebook Post
- Dhaka Mail – Misusing army member, storm of condemnation on Facebook
- MD Asadul Islam – Facebook Post
- Rumor Scanner’s analysis
