Old Video From 2018 Showing Scrapped Passports Recovered From A Field Viral With False Communal Angle

A video is going viral where a youth can be seen picking up discarded passports from a paddy field near a village road. The video is being shared with the claim that illegal Muslims settled near Bet Dwarka in Gujarat discarded their passports after entry into the country.

Claim:

The viral video shows several youngsters throwing up Indian passports. A youth can be seen holding up an Aadhar card as well. Other Indian government IDs can be seen scattered on the ground.

The viral video was shared by right-wing activist Sadhvi Prachi with the claim, “The way thousands of illegal Muslims were settled near Bet Dwarka in Gujarat, on the basis of that it can be inferred that hundreds of kasabs have been settled in the country - We have to take a vow that we will make a Hindu nation and you cooperate in this, Bageshwar Dham Government, join this group and add your friends, put your views there to join the group. If you are a staunch Sanatani, you can join all the groups.”

The video was also shared by users across Twitter with similar captions.

Fact Check:

We used InVid’s Keyframe Analysis tool to break down the video into keyframes and conduct a reverse image search on it. This led us to a report by the Times of India published on March 12, 2018, titled, ‘Over 250 passports for Punjab found dumped in Haryana village.’

The TOI report noted that 258 passports, some with valid visas and others issued freshly, was recovered from Chakeria village under Kalanwali police station in Haryana's Sirsa district, along Bathinda district of Punjab. The passports were scattered along a road in Chakeria village.

The TOI report added that all the passports had Punjab addresses, and police in both states were investigating how these passports ended up in the Haryana village.

“The passports were dispatched for Ludhiana. We are investigating how these passports reached Chakeria village. On counting, we found 258 passports had been collected from the village and nearly 20 of these had valid visas for various countries, including the Gulf region," the TOI report quotes Kalanwali police station SHO Om Parkash.

We also came across a report by Hindustan Times published on March 11, 2018, titled, ‘258 Punjab-bound passports found dumped in Sirsa village’. The report notes that the Haryana Police took possession of 258 passports and some other documents, which were found dumped along a road in Chakerian village under Kalanwali police station in Sirsa district in Haryana.

“Bathinda police suspect that the passports may be those which were to be delivered at the Bathinda main post office and were lost in transit. Kalanwali town is on the Haryana-Punjab border,” the Hindustan Times report said. As per Kalanwali station house officer Om Prakash, preliminary investigations have revealed that the passports belong to persons from different places in Punjab. “These were in possession of a Ludhiana-based private immigration firm where passports holders had submitted these to apply for visa,” the Hindustan Times reported.

The incident is reportedly connected with 254 passports getting lost in transit after being dispatched through a speed post by Regional Passport Office, Chandigarh, to the head post office in Bathinda in January.

As per Hindustan Times, on January 29, 2018, applicants didn’t get their passports despite having received messages on their mobile phones that the RPO dispatched passports on January 15. As the post office officials lodged an online complaint with the district police, a case was registered against unidentified persons.

Conducting a reverse image search, we also came across a report by Punjab Kesari published on March 10, 2018. This report contained screenshots of the viral video.

We also came across a video report by a channel called The Sadaknama. The video is titled, ‘258 passports found scattered in this village, see what is the whole matter?’ uploaded on March 11, 2018.

In the video, the reporter visits the Kalanwali police station of Sirsa district in Haryana and interacts with some people to whom these passports allegedly belonged. One of the persons says that he had provided his passport and some money to an agent for procuring a visa. Reportedly, after a few days the company shut down.

The SHO Om Prakash also explains the case through his statement at the 3.36 mark. Prakash says, ”On March 10, 2018, we told that several passports were found near Chakeria village. The police seized these quickly. Now, I was informed by people from Ludhiana, that there was a company named SSO Pvt Ltd which produced visas.”

“After this company put up an advertisement in newspapers, people sent their passports to the company. After some time, there was some confusion regarding an applicant’s visa and the company closed down its office. The company informed local police that some passports were missing. We have confiscated these passports and will take further action following to the laws.”

Conclusion:

We found that the viral video is an old video from Sirsa district of Haryana. The video shows an incident from 2018, where a visa agency shut down after several people sent their passports for a visa process. The claim that this video shows the proof of the illegal settlement of Muslims in Gujarat is false.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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