Viral Video Is Of UP Police Thrashing A Man For Torturing A Calf? No, Viral Claim Is False.

Two disturbing videos juxtaposed side by side showing animal brutality and thrashing of a young person are going viral on social media. In the first video, a man can be seen physically abusing a cattle in front of the camera. While in the second, two policemen can be seen ruthlessly beating up a young man. Linking both the footages, social media users claimed that the viral video showed UP Police lashing a man who tortured the cattle.

A Twitter user shared this video and wrote a caption in Hindi which reads, "8 दिन पहले ही इसने बछड़े की गर्दन मरोड़ते हुए विडियो पोस्ट की थी, आज योगी जी की यूपी पुलिस ने इसकी विडियो पोस्ट कर दी."

[English Translation: 8 days ago, he posted a video of torturing a calf. Today, Yogi ji's UP Police posted his video (thrashing)]

It is being widely shared on Facebook

Claim:

Viral video shows UP Police brutally thrashing a man for torturing cattle.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact-check team verified the claim and found it to be false. The videos are not related to each other.

First Video:

During the initial investigation, we extracted different keyframes from the viral video using the InVid tool and conducted a Google reverse image search which led us to a tweet dated 21 March 2021 in which similar footage can be seen. The caption of the video reads, "The man who is making the video is also responsible for such acts, it's shameful. We also found a reply of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on this tweet enquiring about contact and the location of the incident so that they can mobilise the local resources".

We tried to search more about the video but couldn't find it. However, it is evident from our investigation that the viral video is not from the recent.

Second video:

We extracted different keyframes from the viral video using the InVid tool and conducted a Google reverse image search. It led us to a report of Breaking Tube, a local UP news portal dated 06 May 2021. The still of the viral video can be seen in the thumbnail of the report. According to it, he viral incident occurred in the Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh, where police brutally thrashed three minors on theft charges.

We then did a keyword search and found the still of the viral video in the report of Amar Ujala dated 02 May 2021. According to the report, Abhay Ram, a resident of Mathela village of Balua police station area, has a mobile shop at Sarai Pulia. Three minor boys from the village entered the shop during the curfew and tried to steal by breaking the door. However, they were caught by the shop owner and handed over to the police. Kailavar outpost in-charge Shivanand Verma reached the spot along with the policemen. The outpost in charge thrashed the three boys with a cane. During this, someone present at the spot made this video which went viral on social media. After the video went viral, Chandauli Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar suspended the outpost in-charge Shivanand Verma and constable Dilip Kumar.

On searching more, we found a tweet of Chandauli Police in which they refuted the viral claim. While replying to a user, they wrote a caption which reads in English, "The case is more than a year old in which departmental action has been taken by suspending both the policemen at the time due to the inhuman treatment done to the child. Please refrain from circulating anything without full facts and clear information".

Conclusion:

Our investigation shows that both videos are available on the internet since March 2022 and are falsely linked to police thrashing a young man for torturing a calf. The second video is from Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh, where two policemen brutally thrashed three minors over allegations of theft. Later, two cops were suspended due to inhumane treatment done to the minors. Hence, the viral claim is false.