Amid the ongoing unrest in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district following the implementation of the Waqf Amendment Act, a video surfaced online showing a heated exchange between a man and woman police officer. In the viral clip, the officer can be seen accusing the man of inciting unrest by mobilising an unlawful crowd, which allegedly led to injuries among the police personnel. The man, in turn, blames the officer for police excesses and intimidation during what he claims was a peaceful demonstration.
The video is shared on Facebook with a caption: ये है बंगाल की हकीकत… एक DIG से एक दो कौड़ी का TMC का #मुल्ला कैसे बात कर रहा साथ के साथ धमकी भी दे रहा और अधिकारी बेचारी बनकर सब सुन रही.. पता है क्यों.. क्यूंकि सामने वाला मुस्लिम है और बंगाल में पुलिस को मुसलमान से तेज़ आवाज़ में बात करने की इजाजत नहीं (English version: This is the reality of Bengal… How a worthless TMC #Mullah is talking to a DIG and threatening him. And the officer is listening to everything pretending to be helpless.. Do you know why.. because the person in front is a Muslim. And in Bengal, the police is not allowed to talk to Muslims in a loud voice.)
Here’s the link to the above post. (Archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be MISLEADING.
To verify the authenticity of the clip and its context, the NM team conducted a Reverse Image Search of the video keyframes, and found the same footage on the YouTube channel Sangbad365Din — a news outlet based in Tripura. The video, uploaded on April 12, identified the location of the incident as Kailashahar, a town in the Unakoti district of Tripura. As per its description, the confrontation occurred between the Superintendent of Police and the local Congress district president.
Further investigation through credible news sources corroborated that tensions erupted in Tripura’s Unakoti district on April 12 during a protest against the newly passed Waqf Amendment Act. The demonstration, which began peacefully in the Tillabazar area, escalated near Kubjhar village when a group of protestors attempted to march towards Kailashahar without official permission. As police set up barricades to prevent the rally from advancing, a violent clash ensued. Protesters reportedly threw bricks at the police, resulting in injuries to several officers. In response, law enforcement detained eight individuals allegedly involved in the violence.
Senior police officials, including Superintendent Sudhambika R and DIG (Northern Range) Rati Ranjan Debnath, visited the site to assess the situation. During this visit, an argument broke out between SP Sudhambika and Congress district president Badruj Jaman, who was leading the protest, and blamed the police for provoking the crowd.
Thus, we can conclusively say that the viral video of a police officer confronting a protest leader is not from West Bengal but Tripura.
