Police drill video mispresented as arrests over deadly India bombing

Published on December 3, 2025 at 08:44
Updated on December 3, 2025 at 08:55
2 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

At least seven people have been arrested in India over the deadly Delhi car bombing on November 10, 2025, but online footage that appears to show two suspects taken into custody was actually filmed at a law enforcement drill. A local police official told AFP that several exercises have been held in Mumbai as authorities tighten security at key locations around the country after the attack.

An Instagram video published on November 17 shows police officers taking two men with their hands behind their heads to a car as a crowd looks on, with overlaid Hindi-language text that reads: "Two terrorists arrested in Lokhandwala, Mumbai. Kamdhenu Building 15/11/2025."

Its caption largely repeats the location.

Screenshot of the false post captured on Nov 25, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The video appeared in similar posts elsewhere on Instagram and X as India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) widened its probe into the Delhi car bombing on November 10 that killed at least 12 people and wounded 30 others (archived link).

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the blast a "conspiracy", vowing those responsible would face justice (archived link).

Several Indian states were put on high alert after the deadly attack as security was tightened at airports, metro and railway stations (archived link).

The NIA has arrested at least seven people over the case, according to the Indian news agency ANI (archived link).

Mumbai police drill

But the video actually shows an exercise conducted on November 15 near the Kamdhenu building in the Lokhandwala area of Mumbai, according to Inspector Prabhat Mankar from the Oshiwara Police in northern Mumbai.

He told AFP on November 21 that Mumbai Police have carried out similar exercises in the city following the Delhi blast.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the clip found other media outlets have also debunked the false claim (archived here and here).

Screenshot comparison of the video shared in false posts (L) and visuals from an Indian media report debunking the false claim

AFP has previously tackled another false claim related to the attack.

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