Images of people beating up policemen in UP are old
A set of images have been shared on social media, showing civilians badly beating up policemen on the streets.
Claim: “माननीय योगी जी इनकी तसवीरें स्पष्ट है, इनको उठाओ और इतना मारो की इनकी सातपुश्ते कभी ऐसा करने को सोचे भी ना।”
(Translation: Respected Yogi Ji, their photographs are clear. Pick them up and beat them up so much that their next seven generations don’t even think about doing anything like this)
This set of images posted by user Arpit Srivastava was shared over 57,500 times on Facebook.
(Archived)
(Archived)
माननीय योगी जी इनकी तसवीरें स्पष्ट है
इनको उठाओ और इतना मारो की इनकी सातपुश्ते कभी ऐसा करने को सोचे भी ना। pic.twitter.com/7jBdtdQSvk— shyam yadav (@ShyamKu23853010) May 4, 2020
(Archived)
माननीय #योगी जी इनकी तसवीरें स्पष्ट है#UPPolice #cmoup pic.twitter.com/KzF2nNmYpF
— Delhi Police Mahasangh (@DPMAHASANGH) May 7, 2020
(Archived)
Truth
We carried out reverse image searches on every one of the four images that were shared together.
Only one out of the four images shared is of an attack on policemen during the lockdown.
The three images in which a man can be seen brawling with a policeman were found to be old. We found these images to be a part of news reports from June 2017.
The violent clash between the people and police erupted after a minor girl receiving treatment was allegedly raped by a ward boy in a Kanpur hospital, following which people gathered to protest. They demanded strict action and increased security and the protest somehow turned violent.
All three photographs can be seen in a report by the Daily Mirror, a British tabloid.
A video report by News Nation dated June 17, 2017, also shows visuals of the incident.
The fourth image is the only one that fits the claim. The photograph of the injured policeman is a recent one, from 2 April 2020.
A report by News18 Hindi containing the fourth photograph provides details about the incident.
A crowd had gathered in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh during the lockdown, and a few police personnel had reached the spot to disperse the gathering. The crowd beat up the policemen with lathis and sticks, severely injuring one police officer and two policemen.
Hence, three images are old and are being circulated with a recent image, with a misleading context.
