On July 25, the All-India Students’ Association (AISA) called for a Bihar bandh to protest the alleged NEET paper leak. Demonstrations turned violent in several parts of the state, with reports of stone-pelting, vandalism, and police action. Amid these developments, a video showing people carrying a leopard through a large crowd has gone viral on social media. Those sharing the clip claim it was recorded during the Bihar bandh protest.
A Facebook user posted the viral post with the following caption:
Patna Bihar Protest
You can check the post here.
NM VERIFIED
NewsMobile investigated the viral post and found the claims to be false.
To verify the claim, we performed a reverse image search using keyframes from the viral video. This led us to the same footage uploaded on News18’s YouTube channel on May 30, 2026. Although the channel did not specify the location in its upload, the publication date confirmed that the video predates the July 25 Bihar bandh.
We also found the same video shared by several users on YouTube and Facebook in May 2026, identifying the incident as one from Purnia district in Bihar, where villagers had captured a leopard.
A subsequent keyword search led us to an ETV Bharat report published on May 27, 2026. According to the report, the leopard had been roaming in villages under the Tikapatti police station area of Purnia for three days, damaging agricultural fields, attacking livestock, and injuring three villagers. After repeated attacks, villagers surrounded and killed the animal.
We found additional confirmation in a Navbharat Times report published on May 28, 2026. The report stated that the leopard had killed two calves and a goat and injured three villagers, triggering panic across the area. After a prolonged struggle, villagers killed the leopard, and forest officials later recovered its carcass.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the viral post, claiming to show people carrying a leopard during the Bihar bandh protest, is false.
