Video shows home demolition in Bangladesh, not vandalism targeting former MP

Popular Bangladeshi folk singer and former ruling party lawmaker Momtaz Begum was arrested May 12 on charges related to the unrest that overthrew the government in 2024, but a video circulating online does not show her home being vandalised. Local police told AFP her house has not been damaged, and the clip matches similar footage from March news reports about the demolition of illegal buildings on government land.

The video, which shows an excavator tearing down a white building, accumulated some 28,000 views in a Facebook post published May 19.

"Artist Momtaz's house being vandalised," reads the Bengali-language post, referring to folk singer Momtaz Begum, who was also a member of parliament belonging to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League.

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Screenshot of the false post taken May 22, 2025

Protesters have vandalised homes and properties belonging to members of the former ruling party of Bangladesh, which has been in political turmoil since Hasina was ousted by a student-led revolt in August 2024, ending her iron-fisted rule of 15 years.

Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina's government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations (archived link). 

The country has since begun trials of senior figures from Hasina's government -- a key demand of several political parties now jostling for power as the South Asian nation awaits elections that the interim government has vowed will take place before June 2026.

The same claim surfaced elsewhere on Facebook and YouTube after Momtaz was arrested on several charges, including one related to a murder during last year's revolt (archived link). The former lawmaker is being held in custody pending investigation. 

Some social media users left comments indicating they believed the claim.

"She is an artist, her house can’t be vandalised like this, even though she was an MP, this is not right," one wrote.

Another said: "This is wrong, it needs to be remedied."

However, a police officer in charge of the station in Manikganj's Singair district, where Momtaz's house is located, told AFP on May 22 that the former lawmaker and singer's house has not been vandalised or damaged.

"In Singair and other areas of Manikganj, none of her properties or houses were targeted or damaged by anyone," Towfick Azam said.

A reverse image search using keyframes from the footage led to a news report by local broadcaster Maasranga News about the March 30 clearing of illegal housing built on government-owned forest land (archived link).

"Over 150 houses, including duplexes built on forest land, were evicted," the video's title reads.

The report contains various clips of the eviction drive by Bangladesh's Forest Department. The circulating footage corresponds to the 1:04 mark, where a bulldozer knocks down the same building.

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Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the video from Maasranga News

Local news outlet Ajker Patrika also published a photo of the same structure being demolished (archived link).

AFP has debunked other false and misleading claims stemming from the unrest in Bangladesh here.