Fact-Check: This Clip Doesn't Show Recent Demolition in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich

A video showing an aerial view of demolished settlements has gone viral on social media, where users have claimed that it shows recent visuals from Bahraich in (UP).

The claim: Those sharing the video have claimed that it shows 'bulldozer justice' in action, as the Yogi Adityanath-led government in the state was exacting revenge for the killing of Ram Gopal Mishra during a in the town.

• The video was also shared by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader and politician .

An archive of this post can be seen .

(Archives of more claims on social media can be seen , , and .)

But...?: The video has no connection to the ongoing tensions in Bahraich.

• It dates back to September 2024 and shows a court-ordered demolition drive in a village called Wazirganj in Bahraich, UP.

How did we find out the truth?: We divided the viral video into multiple keyframes on InVID, a video verification extension on Google Chrome, and ran reverse image searches on some of them.

• One such search led us to a shared on 26 September 2024, which mentioned that it showed visuals of Wazirganj in Bahraich.

The video was shared in September 2024.

• Taking a cue from this, we ran a keyword search using the term 'wazirganj demolition bahraich', while the date filter on Google to look for results from September.

• A report by , published on 25 September this year, mentioned that 23 structures were demolished in Bahraich's Kaiserganj

• It carried a statement by Kaiserganj Sub Divisional Magistrate Alok Prasad, who told them that the action was taken on orders by the Allahabad High Court.

• Prasad mentioned that a "government barn and road" was "reportedly occupied" by people, who had reportedly built several shops, houses, and tin sheds.

• The official X account of the Bahraich Police also dismissed the claim, clarifying that the video was one of the court-ordered demolition in September, "and not of the incident that happened in Maharajganj a few days ago."

प्रदर्शित विज़ुअल एक कोर्ट द्वारा आदेशित एंटी एंक्रोचमेंट ड्राइव के हैं जो कि जनपद बहराइच के फखरपुर क्षेत्र में दिनांक 25.09.24 को चली थी न कि विगत दिनों घटित महराजगंज की घटना का है । भ्रामक पोस्ट से सौहार्द और कानून व्यवस्था बिगाड़ने के विरुद्ध विधिक कार्यवाही अमल में लाई जाएगी। https://t.co/dbFVjLiVfh pic.twitter.com/2BXqGHTqbq

— BAHRAICH POLICE (@bahraichpolice) October 19, 2024

Conclusion: An old video is being shared with the false claim that it shows a recent video of the demolition drive in Bahraich.

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