This video has previously circulated in media reports about cattle smuggling at the India-Bangladesh border
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on November 15, 2019 at 07:14
- 4 min read
- By AFP Pakistan
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The video was published in this Facebook post on September 11, 2016. It has been viewed more than 1,600 times.
The one-minute 16-second video shows people moving cattle across a fence using a makeshift crane.
The post’s caption states: “This is how animal mafia earns money by smuggling the cows from India to Pakistan for Eid-e-Qurban (Eid al-Adha) and suck blood of poor people. This is the proven that both countries ' officials are involved in this business.”
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
The same video was also published on Facebook here and here with a similar claim.
The claim is false; a reverse image search using keyframes extracted from the video by video verification tool InVID found it had previously circulated in media reports about cattle smuggling at the India-Bangladesh border.
This report from Bengladeshi newspaper Dhaka Tribune published on September 9, 2016, includes a screengrab from the same video.
The report’s headline states: “Video of cow smuggling shocks two nations”.
Below is a screenshot of the report:
The Tribune’s report states a local police official, Ismail Hossain, shared the video online on September 6, 2016, but later removed it.
The report contains a reference to this corresponding YouTube video published on September 8, 2016, which credits Hossain for the footage.
The YouTube video’s title states: “Cow passing at Durgapur simanto; Lalmonirhat”.
Lalmonirhat district is situated at the northern border of Bangladesh. It neighbours the Indian state of Sikkim.
The YouTube video’s caption states: “India Passing cows to bangladesh through Bamboo crain System courtesy Md Ismail Hosain”.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (L) and the YouTube video (R):
The video in the misleading posts directly corresponds with the YouTube video from the 0:22 to 1:38 mark.
This video news report was published by India Today on its YouTube channel on September 25, 2016. It contains some of the footage in the misleading post from the 0:18 to 0:50 mark.
Its caption states: “Special Report On Cow Smuggling From India To Bangladesh”.
Below is a screenshot of the India Today report showing the same video:
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (L) and the India Today report (R):
Footage similar to the video in the misleading posts was also embedded in this report published by German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle in Bengali on September 15, 2016.
Below is a screenshot of the video embedded in the report:
An AFP journalist based in Dhaka analysed the video and found the people in the clip speaking Bengali. Some of their comments translate to English as: “Go there.. to the other side. That side.”
Bengali, the first language of Bangladesh, is not typically spoken in areas near the India-Pakistan border.
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