Clip shows police in India's Assam state, not 'terrorists roaming remote border region of Bangladesh'
- Published on November 8, 2024 at 08:50
- 3 min read
- By Eyamin Sajid, Sachin BAGHEL, AFP Bangladesh, AFP India
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"This is the reality of the peace treaty in the Chittagong Hill Tracts area. Armed terrorists are roaming around like this, killing Bengalis and extorting hostages," read part of the Bengali-language caption to a Facebook video shared on September 20, 2024.
"Bengalis in the hilly areas are living in fear of arms. These gunmen should be arrested and brought under the law."
The video, which shows a group of armed men in a hilly region, was shared after the latest outbreak of violence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where rebel groups fought a decades-long battle for a tribal homeland before signing a 1997 peace deal (archived link).
Despite the treaty and the withdrawal of most troops from the region, unrest has continued as tribal groups demand key clauses of the deal be implemented, including dismantling settlers' villages and army camps.
The latest violence in the region was set off by the lynching of a Bengali-speaking man purportedly caught stealing a motorbike, according to local residents and Bangladeshi media.
In retaliation, shops and establishments owned by the tribal community were attacked and set on fire.
The Bangladeshi military said on September 20 that troops opened fire after being shot at by members of a tribal group, with authorities and witnesses saying at least four people were killed.
The video shared online was also posted alongside similar claims elsewhere on Facebook here and here.
But the clip predates the recent ethnic violence in southeastern Bangladesh.
Assam police patrol
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to higher quality footage posted on Facebook on July 17 by a user listed as living in Karbi Anglong, a district in the northeastern Indian state of Assam (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison between the falsely shared video (left) and the video posted on July 17 (right):
The user who shared the video, Sambor Rongpi, told AFP he is a police constable in the town of Diphu.
The video circulating online was taken during a training exercise for newly recruited officers, and was filmed in the Karbi Anglong district on July 14, he said on November 6.
Another clip posted on his page shows him wearing an Assam police uniform (archive links here and here).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip (left) and a picture of an officer posted on the official Facebook page of the Assam police (right) with the corresponding badges highlighted:
The user -- who has posted from Assam since at least 2016 -- had also shared clips here and here showing similar patrols (archived links here and here).
AFP has previously debunked other false claims about unrest in the Chittagong Hill Tract region here.
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