Footage of Bangladesh fire misrepresented as post-election arson in West Bengal
- Published on May 19, 2026 at 09:41
- 2 min read
- By Sachin BAGHEL, Eyamin SAJID, AFP India, AFP Bangladesh
At least five people have been killed in post-election violence in India's West Bengal state, but a clip circulating on social media does not show a fire started at the home of the former chief minister or an arson attack on her party's offices. The footage previously circulated months before the election results were announced, and in fact shows a fire caused by an electrical short circuit in neighbouring Bangladesh.
The X clip shared on May 4, 2026 shows a house engulfed in flames as onlookers scream in panic.
"BJP workers set fire to Mamata Banerjee's house and a TMC office after the West Bengal election," says its Hindi-language caption, referring to the recently dislodged chief minister of West Bengal state.
Banerjee was West Bengal's chief minister for 15 years before the state assembly elections saw the BJP sweep her All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) from power (archived link).
The clip was also shared in similar Facebook and Instagram posts after election results were announced and violence erupted in the state, killing at least five people (archived link).
Among those killed were a close aide of West Bengal's newly elected Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
While opposition TMC leaders have also accused BJP workers of setting fire to party offices, the clip circulating on social media was not filmed in the state (archived here and here).
Sylhet fire
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip led to the same footage published by Indian news outlets News 9 Live and NewsX Live months earlier, on January 16 (archived here and here).
The reports claimed the footage shows an attack on the house of a Hindu school teacher in Sylhet, Bangladesh.
The clip circulated against the background of a surge of violence targeting religious minorities ahead of elections in the Muslim-majority country, with Bangladesh's main organisation representing Buddhist, Hindu and Christian communities saying there were at least 51 incidents targeting its members in December 2025, including 10 murders (archived link).
Elections have long stirred unease among minorities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh following large-scale violence during the 2001 and 2014 polls (archived link). Hindus have often been targeted for their perceived loyalty to the now‑banned Awami League of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in the uprising in July 2024.
But further keyword searches on Google led to a Bangladeshi media report that contradicted the Indian news coverage (archived link).
The report said the fire occurred on January 15 in Sylhet and was caused by an electrical short circuit. It added the footage circulated on social media, with posts falsely claiming people with political or religious motives had started the fire.
But the house owner, a Hindu man in Sylhet, told the media the fire was an accident. The owner, Bikash Kumar Dev, also told AFP it was an accident.
"After the accident, our Muslim neighbour came to help and repair the damaged house," Kumar, a schoolteacher, told AFP on May 12. "The claim being shared on social media is not true."
The press wing of Bangladesh's interim government also refuted the claims the Hindu teacher's house was "intentionally" set on fire (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked other false claims related to the West Bengal state elections.
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