Fact Check: Viral video showing demolition of illegal structures is NOT from Bareilly market
Demolition drives were recently conducted in Bareilly against properties allegedly linked to individuals involved in
Bareilly demolition video
Demolition drives were recently conducted in Bareilly against properties allegedly linked to individuals involved in illegal activities and recent civic unrest. The Bareilly Development Authority (BDA) and local authorities led these actions. Authorities in Bareilly identified eight allegedly illegal properties linked to associates of Ittehad-e-Millat Council chief cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan for demolition. This action was taken after his arrest for allegedly provoking people to participate in protests over the “I Love Mohammed” poster row. According to the police, the protesters were incited by provocative messages circulated on WhatsApp.
Teams from the Bareilly Development Authority (BDA) and the district administration conducted a joint drive in Faiq Enclave, Jagatpur, and the old city areas. The structures were allegedly built without approved plans, with some encroaching on government or ceiling land.
Fact Check:
The claim is False. The video is not related to the demolition that took place in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
After extracting keyframes from the viral video and performing a Google reverse image search, we found that it is an old video from Pakistan and not related to Uttar Pradesh or India. We found a few YouTube Shorts shared with hashtags such as #viralshort, #punjabpolice, #govtofpakistan, #sad, #ptiofficial, #trending, #city, and #construction.
Some users shared similar videos with the caption “Government Operation” and hashtags like #punjabpolice.
Upon further search, we found a longer video shared by a Facebook page named Urdu Point Videos titled “Heavy Encroachment Operation Held in Depalpur - 50 Year Old Illegal Shops Demolished #Encroachment #IllegalConstruction #AntiEncroachment #Depalpur.”
When we observed these videos carefully, we noticed a red building with the words Muzzamil Centre written in Urdu in the background. All these posts stated that the demolished shops were in the Galla Bazaar area of Depalpur.
Therefore, the viral video is not related to Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. It shows the demolition of shops in Depalpur, Punjab, Pakistan.