Old video of children in truck in Kolhapur shared with false claim of them being Rohingyas

New Delhi, Oct 10 (PTI) A video of minor boys, most of them wearing skullcaps, disembarking a truck in the presence of police has gone viral on social media with the users claiming that it showed Rohingya Muslims, who illegally entered India from Bangladesh and were caught in Maharashtra's Kolhapur.

PTI Fact Check’s investigation found the claim to be fake.

The video, dating back to 2023, actually relates to an incident where a truck carrying 63 children, travelling from Bihar and West Bengal to Kolhapur, was intercepted by the police on suspicion raised by some right-wing organisations.

The minor boys actually studied at a madrasa in Azra, Kolhapur, and were returning from their hometowns after the summer holidays.

A user on social media platform Facebook wrote, "A truck carrying Rohingya Muslims was caught in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. Mamata Banerjee is bringing them from Bangladesh and filling them all over the country. When will we Hindus wake up? The country is in great danger. Be careful Hindu brothers be careful." To know the truth behind the claim, the Desk reverse searched the key frames of the video through Google Lens and came across a report by India TV published on May 18, 2023.

According to the report, on May 17, 2023, 63 children were found in a truck in Kolhapur. After the matter came to light, some Hindu organisations informed the police about it. The police investigation revealed that all the children were from West Bengal and Bihar who studied in a madrasa in Kolhapur and had gone to their hometown for the summer holidays. They reached Kolhapur via train from where they were being taken to the madrasa in a truck.

During the investigation, the Desk also found a report related to this incident on TV9 website. The report quoted Kolhapur Deputy Superintendent of Police Mangesh Chavan clarifying that the children studied in a madrasa in Kolhapur and were returning from their native villages after spending the summer vacations.

In the next part of investigation, the Desk contacted Azra Police Station in-charge Nagesh Yamgar, who stated that the incident took place last year.

"After the video went viral, police verification of all the children was done. There were no Rohingyas. All were students studying in madrasa," he told PTI.

PTI Fact Check Desk's investigation thus made it clear that the claim made in the social media post was fake and the video was shared with a false communal narrative.

Read the full fact-check here: https://bit.ly/3ZTgm37 For verification or truth of any claim viral on social media, contact PTI Fact Check Desk's WhatsApp number +91-8130503759. PTI TEAM AS