This video shows a Brazilian teen arrested for dangerous driving

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on August 19, 2021 at 04:58
  • Updated on August 25, 2021 at 06:24
  • 2 min read
  • By AFP India

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A video of a police officer tackling a motorcyclist to the ground has been viewed thousands of times in social media posts claiming it shows the arrest of a "terrorist" in Srinagar, India. The claim is false; the footage actually shows police arresting a 17-year-old boy in Parana, Brazil. Local media reported that he was charged with various driving offences and did not say the case was treated as terrorism. 

"Live terrorist arrested in Srinagar," reads a Facebook post from August 14.

The video -- viewed more than 120,000 times -- shows a police van chasing a motorcyclist. The bike crashes before an officer runs out and pins the driver to the ground.

A screenshot of the misleading post.

The video was shared by several other accounts on Facebook as seen here, here and here. It was also posted by multiple accounts on Twitter, for example here, here and here. 

However, the claim is false.

A reverse image search using the InVID WeVerify tool found the same video in news reports about a minor arrested on August 1 in Pérola in Brazil's southern Paraná state.

Brazilian site G1 reported that police attempted to stop the 17-year-old boy for "suspicious activity" before he fled.

Local police told AFP the boy "travelled several lanes in the opposite direction" and "collided with the bumper of the police's vehicle" before he was detained.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in misleading social media posts (left) and in a report about the 17-year old arrested in Brazil (right).  

Screenshot comparison of the video in misleading social media posts (left) and in a report about the 17-year old arrested in Brazil (right)

AFP did not find any reports in reputable news media about an individual arrested on terrorism charges in Srinagar. 

August 25, 2021 This article was updated on August 25, 2021 to tweak the caption of the Facebook post in the second paragraph.

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