Old video of overcrowded train from Bangladesh viral as Shramik Special train
The Indian Railways started Shramik trains to help migrants reach their home during the lockdown. Amidst this, a video has become viral on social media in which an over crowded train can be seen with people dangling from the sides and sitting on top of the train.
CLAIM
A video of an overcrowded train went viral on social media with the claim that it is one of the Shramik trains travelling from Mumbai to West Bengal on 10th May. In the video people can be seen sitting on top of the train and hanging along the rods of side windows and doors.
This video was uploaded by a tamil page on Facebook ‘சோழமாதேவி‘ (Cholamadevi) on 12th May and garnered around 6.1k views and 455 shares.
The following post was shared by ‘Abdul Azeem Uzair’ 13th May and garnered around 80 views.
The following video was also shared on Twitter.
Mumbai to West Bengal migrant train on 10th May 2020 pic.twitter.com/kQ1QYj89GP
— Luxy Joy (@joy_luxy) May 14, 2020
The following video was tweeted by ‘Luxy Joy’ on 14th May and has 62 views.
Another twitter user @MidnightReportr also tweeted the same video with the following caption- “Unbelievable!!! Two days back migrant train moves from MUMBAI to West Bengal!!! Salute to driver!!!”
The false tweet was called out by Anshul Saxena, an ethical hacker and social media influencer, on his facebook post where he uploaded a screenshot of the tweet along with the screenshot of the tweet thread between him and @MidnightReportr.
Following this @MidnightReportr edited the caption of the tweet to – “Dear friends It’s a fake video ! Don’t viral this one on what’s app groups ! This clip is from Bangladesh. Kindly make a note !!
In the caption he also tagged Anshul Saxena, twitter handle of Mumbai police and Indian Railways.
Dear friends
It’s a fake video !
Don’t viral this one on what’s app groups !
This clip is from Bangladesh.
Kindly make a note !!@AskAnshul @MumbaiPolice @Indianrailway18 pic.twitter.com/TYgvD6TyM3— Dr Chaitanya Singh (@MidnightReportr) May 14, 2020
This is not the first time this account shared fake news. Another fake news related to fungus on leather items which went viral recently was also tweeted by this account, later it was debunked.
This video was also widely circulated on Whatsapp.
TRUTH
The following video is of a crowded train in Bangladesh and is two years old. On doing google reverse image search, an old Youtube video back from 2018 resurfaced, with the caption- ‘Most Crowded Train in the World- Bangladesh Railway’. The viral part of the video starts from 00:18
The following video was uploaded by a channel ‘Beautiful Places To See‘ on 24th February. The description of the video mentions that the incident happened during “Bishwa Ijtema”, one of the biggest religious gatherings of Bangladesh, hence the train was crowded as it was Bishwa Ijtema Special Train 2018. This three-day event is observed by devotees on the banks of River Turag in Tongi.
The Indian Railways started the service of Sharmik Trains as hundreds of migrant labourers were stranded away from home in different states and they started walking by foot or bicycling to reach home thousands of kilometers away. This initiative intended to ease out the stress of these stranded migrant labourers.
After initial resistance, the West Bengal government allowed some trains to enter the state.
Shramik train was operational in India from 1st May and allowed only 1200 passengers in one train which was later increased to 1700, due to resumption of partial functioning of railway from 12th May. Hence this cannot be a migrant Shramik train.
The following fake news was also debunked by The Quint and India Today.
The video showed therefore has no relation with Shramik trains in India and is actually a two year old video from Bangladesh.
