Fact Check: Viral video claiming farmers’ tractor crushed a police official during ongoing stir is Misleading
Farmers are protesting at the Shambhu border near Delhi after they were stopped from entering the national capital by the heavy contingent of police force deployed near the borders. The Haryana police has been using drones to drop tear gas shells on the farmers to stop them from entering the state.
Claim :
Viral video shows protesting farmers crushing a police official under their tractor during the ongoing protest at DelhiFact :
The video is not recent, it shows an incident that took place in Sangrur, Punjab in August 2023
Farmers are protesting at the Shambhu border near Delhi after they were stopped from entering the national capital by the heavy contingent of police force deployed near the borders. The Haryana police have been using drones to drop tear gas shells on the farmers to stop them from entering the state. The farmers clashed with the Haryana police and tried to break the barricades, preventing them from entering the national capital. After facing severe resistance from the police, they called off the protest for a day and resumed it on February 14, 2024.
Meanwhile, several old videos and images are resurfacing on social media with false claims relating them to the farmers' protests underway. One such video showing a police official being run over by a tractor driven by protestors is being widely circulated on social media with the claim that the video is from the recent protest being staged in 2024.
The video is shared with captions like “Real Farmers never kill police or any other human. So-called crushed the police with a tractor. These are Khalistani terrorists under the guise of Farmers. @HMOIndia please take strict against these traitors”
and also “So-called Anndatta Farmers crushed a Police officer under a tractor #FarmersProtest2024 #
The users are implying that the incident took place in the ongoing protest by farmers.
Fact check:
The claim is Misleading. The video is not from the farmers’ protest in 2024.
When the extracted keyframes from the video were used to perform a Google reverse image search, we found that the video shows an incident that took place in Sangrur in August 2023.
According to a report by Prabhat khabar.com, farmers held a one-day demonstration demanding flood damage compensation in Chandigarh on August 22, 2023. But even before the demonstration, a clash occurred between the farmers and the police in Longowal of Sangrur district.
According to the Tribune India.com, the farmers were protesting a day ahead of a planned demonstration in Chandigarh, in which 16 farm bodies, including the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Bharti Kisan Union (Karanti kari), BKU (Ekta Azaad), Aazaad Kisan Committee, Doaba, BKU (Behramke) and the Bhoomi Bachao Mohim, participated seeking compensation for losses caused by floods.
As they were trying to block the Sangrur- Barnala National Highway, the police foiled their bid. However, the farmers forced their way through the barricades using tractor-trolleys and buses. During this incident, an inspector escaped being crushed under a tractor-trolley but was severely injured.
Sangrur police also tweeted the longer version of the viral video on August 21, 2023, with the caption: “Reg unfortunate death of a protester today at Longowal, it is clarified that as per witnesses & videos d deceased was overrun by a rashly driven tractor trolley by protesters, which also severely injured a police inspector who narrowly escaped from getting crushed. Our condolences”
Hence, the viral video is an old one and shows an incident that took place in Sangrur, Punjab, and is not related to the ongoing farmers’ protest. The claim is Misleading.
