Violence broke out in Bengal as soon as the results were declared on 2nd May, within 24 hours of elections results, at least a dozen people have been reported dead in post poll violence in Bengal, a figure that may be higher than the number of those killed during the month-long polls. Although during this delicate situation where the number of COVID cases in increasing rapidly, to add fuel to fire a video is going viral over the internet in which, a mob is seen attacking a police van. This viral video is taking tours of the internet with the claim that the Trinamool Congress supporters attacking cops who’d come to control post-poll clashes. The caption with the video says, “#PresidentRuleInBengal Policeman came to control the situation & then TMC goons attacks on Police. #tmcgoons #BengalViolence”.
On conducting a reverse image search, it was found that the viral clip is from January 2021, in Bhadrak, Odisha where locals had attacked and torched a police van over an alleged suspect’s death after his body was later found floating in a pond in the village. According to these reports published on January 13, 2021, the video shows locals of Tihidi block in Odisha’s Bhadrak district attacking a police jeep over the alleged death of a youth. Several news portals from Odisha had also reported the incident on the same day.
The deceased was identified as Bapi Mahalik of Hatuari village under Nayanand panchayat of the district reported Kalinga TV. The report stated that according to locals, Mahalik was visiting his sister, when the police team reached there to interrogate him over a past incident. Seeing them, Mahalik allegedly fled with the police giving chase. Media reports said that Mahalik while fleeing, fell into a nearby pond and drowned to death which enraged locals who set the police vehicle on fire at Alinagar Square. The death triggered massive unrest in the village with the family alleging that the youth killed himself over police brutality. Following this, villagers blocked the Bhadrak-Chandbali highway near Alinagar by keeping the youth’s body on the road. When police reached the protest site to disperse the crowd and clear the roadblock, the protesters set the police van on fire.
Also, searching on Twitter regarding the said incident, a user had uploaded the now deleted tweet which had the viral video, and had suggested that it was from Odisha. The YouTube link shared by the user showed similar visuals as in the viral video and was uploaded in January 2021 by Kalinga TV. The title, along with the video, read: ‘Locals Sets Police Van ablaze after youth dies allegedly being beaten up by Cops.’
A local reporter also confirmed that the video is from Bhadrak district in Odisha. Even a police official verified that the video is indeed from Bhadrak district in Odisha. “The incident took place under Tihidi police limits in the month of January. Some people had then started attacking the local police,” the police official said. Hence, it is clear that the viral video is not related to the recent post-poll clashes in West Bengal as the visuals of an incident that took place in Odisha in January 2021 were shared to falsely claim that it shows post-poll violence in West Bengal.
