Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Claim
A stone pelter shot in the head by Army personnel in Jammu & Kashmir
Archived version of the post can be found here.
Fact
Newschecker conducted Google reverse image searches on the keyframes of the viral video and found a report by Israel-based website ‘bhol.co.il,’ dated August 12, 2022. The report carried the viral video, attributing it to an incident that took place in Bolivia.
We also found a Teletica.com report on the ongoing protests by Coca growers in Bolivia, dated August 8, 2022, with the title in Spanish which roughly translates to “Bolivia: Protester confuses dynamite with a cigarette and it explodes in his hand.” Featuring the viral video, the report quoted Bolivian Deputy Minister of the Interior Regime, Ismael Téllez saying that one of the coca growers was left in “critical condition” after a stick of dynamite that he was preparing to throw at the uniformed men exploded in his hand.
It further added that the state Ombudsman, Nadia Cruz, said on Twitter that the farmer “is in a critical situation with a diagnosis of traumatic amputation of the left forearm and abdominal trauma.”
The video was also uploaded by Bolivian television network, Unitel Bolivia on video-sharing platform Dailymotion with the caption which roughly translates to “Coca grower injured by handling dynamite is in critical condition.”
Furthermore, a tweet by Bolivian news outlet La Razón Digital carried visuals of video being played on a screen with the caption, “The departmental commander of the FELCC of #LaPaz , Rolando Rojas, and members of the Firefighters Unit confirmed the use of dynamite by coca growers in the Adepcoca parallel market conflict. Photos: APG.”
More reports on the incident can be read here and here.
Over the past few weeks, the Bolivian capital La Paz has been witnessing protests by a section of coca growers who are demanding the closure of what they say are illegal coca markets, resulting in clashes between the police and the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (ADEPCOCA). Read more here and here.
We could thus conclude that the viral post claiming to show a stone pelter being shot by army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir is false. The video is actually from Bolivia.
Result: False
Sources
Report By bhol.co.il, Dated August 12, 2022
Report By Teletica.com, Dated August 8, 2022
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
