A video showing police firing tear gas at protesters on a highway is doing the rounds on social media. It’s claimed that it shows a protest crackdown in Uttar Pradesh under Yogi Adityanath government.
The video is shared on Facebook with a caption: “भारत को नेपाल समझ रहे थे यहाँ बाबा जी का राज है… यूपी की पुलिस धुआँ धुआँ कर के छोड़ेंगे!” (English version: They were mistaking India for Nepal. Babaji rules here… The UP police will leave you in a state of smoke.)
Here’s the link to the above post. (Archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim and found it to be MISLEADING.
A Reverse Image Search of the video keyframes detects a longer version uploaded to YouTube on September 28. The video description clarifies that the visuals are from a mock drill in Ritudih, Bokaro, Jharkhand. The same footage appears after the one-minute mark.
A keyword search in Hindi reveals multiple posts shared by the official Twitter handle of Bokaro Police on September 27, showing similar scenes. The posts stated that police conducted mock drills at two locations — Police Line Sector 12 and Ritudih — ahead of Dussehra 2025. The exercise, supervised by the Superintendent of Police and senior officials, aimed to train personnel in managing emergencies and potential riot situations.
आगामी दशहरा पर्व 2025 को मद्देनज़र सेक्टर 12 स्थित पुलिस लाइन बोकारो के परेड मैदान तथा माराफारी थानांतर्गत रितुडीह, बोकारो में पुलिस अधीक्षक, बोकारो के समक्ष पुलिस उपा० (नगर), सार्जेंट मेजर 1 एवं 2, परिचारी एवं अन्य पुलिस पदाधिकारियों एवं कर्मियों की उपस्थिति में मॉक ड्रिल (1/2) pic.twitter.com/O7OceqKlzm
— BOKARO POLICE (@bokaropolice) September 27, 2025
Local media outlet Star City 24 Jharkhand-Bihar also reported on September 27 that Bokaro Police held these mock drills to strengthen preparedness for Dussehra festivities.
Thus, we can conclusively say that the viral video claiming to show a protest crackdown by police in Uttar Pradesh is false.
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