Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Police officer catches a burqa-clad Muslim man for casting fake votes during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Fact
Viral video dates back to June 2023 and is from Lahore, Pakistan.
Several social media users are circulating a video, claiming that it shows a police officer apprehending a Muslim man who was wearing a burqa so as to cast fake votes in the ongoing general elections, which has completed two phases. The users called the case an example of “vote jihad”, a term that has sparked a new political row with the Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday filing a case against Congress leader Salman Khurshid and his niece Maria Alam after she called for a “vote jihad” in favour of the INDIA bloc candidate from the Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker first ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Twitter post, sharing a clearer version of the video, dated June 19, 2023. A similar Facebook post can be seen here, dated June 18, 2023, which confirms that the viral video predates the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, while indicating that it is from Pakistan.
We saw that the logo on the wall (left) behind the police officer and the man wearing a burqa was that of the Capital City Police Lahore.
A relevant keyword search led us to this post, dated June 18, 2023, from the official Twitter account of the Lahore Police, addressing the incident in the viral video, which confirms that it is not related to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Conclusion
Viral video of police officer catching man wearing a burqa is from Pakistan and not from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Result: False
Sources
Twitter post, Lahore Police, June 18, 2023
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
