Bangladesh road rage incident misrepresented as attack on govt official
- Published on December 8, 2025 at 09:27
- 2 min read
- By Devesh MISHRA, Eyamin SAJID, AFP India, AFP Bangladesh
Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since the end of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's autocratic rule and violence has marred campaigning for the first polls since her overthrow. But a video circulating online does not show the deputy press secretary to interim leader Muhammad Yunus being attacked on the streets of Dhaka, as posts claim. The clip has previously circulated in social media posts stating it shows a road rage incident, and the deputy press secretary told AFP the claim is "totally fake".
"Yunus's deputy press secretary attacked on the street in Dhaka," reads the Hindi-language caption of a Facebook video viewed more than 55,000 times since it was shared on November 18, 2025.
The video, which is superimposed with Hindi-language text reading "Extremist terror at its peak in Dhaka", shows the point of view of someone arguing with a man in the backseat of a car before a scuffle breaks out.
The video was also shared in similar Facebook and X posts as crude bombs were set off across Dhaka in November, mainly petrol bombs hurled at everything from buildings linked to interim leader Muhammad Yunus's government to buses and Christian sites.
The country has been in turmoil since prime minister Sheikh Hasina was toppled by student protests in August 2024, and campaigning for the first elections since her overthrow have been marred by violence (archived link).
Hasina's outlawed Awami League had also called for a nationwide "lockdown" on November 13, when a verdict was expected in her closely watched crimes against humanity trial (archived link). She was convicted in absentia on November 17 and sentenced to death (archived link).
The circulating video, however, does not show Yunus's deputy press secretary being attacked. There have also been no official reports of the official being assaulted.
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video found similar footage posted on Facebook in October (archived link).
The nearly four-minute video begins with the passenger of a car attempting to open his door to confront a motorcyclist, who shouts that the car was coming from the wrong direction. The encounter quickly escalates into a physical fight.
The post makes no mention of Yunus's deputy press secretary being involved in the altercation.
Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder, deputy press secretary to Muhammad Yunus, told AFP the circulating claim is "totally fake".
"Nothing like this happened with me ever," he said on November 17 when the rumour earlier surfaced in Bengali social media posts.
AFP has debunked a slew of misinformation stemming from the unrest in Bangladesh.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
