Incidents of police officials clashing with public have often caught nationwide attention, but one particular video showing brutal murder of a young couple by a cop in Haryana has people furious. A video of the shootout has gone viral on social media and on WhatsApp groups, with people demanding action against the police officer seen in the tape. But that's not exactly what happened.
The claim
As seen in the video, a police officer shoots a young man at point-blank range, who then instantly falls on the ground dead. It appears a fight erupted between the cop and the young man, after which the police officer pushes the man, pulls out his gun and shoots the man dead. The victim's friend starts shouting and crying and abuses the police officer, who then shoots her as well.
The video also shows the crowd gathered around witnessing the gory incident. The background clearly shows Friends cafe in a mall, which is a restaurant in Karnal Haryana. Soon after the video was shared on social media, an outburst of anger and criticism followed. Many users called for strict action against the cop. Seeing the video, even the former J&K DGP Shesh Paul Vaid criticised the incident, saying: "Horrific! Where ever it happened, this Policeman should be identified and booked for murder."
Fact check
International Business Times reviewed the viral video and found it to be fake. Soon after the video was being widely circulated on social media, UP Police took notice of the same and issued a clarification. The manager of the Friends Cafe in Karnal, which can be seen in the video's background, said the video was shot for a web series and the cop and the victims in the video are mere actors.
Rahul Srivastav, the Additional Superintendent of Police of the Anti-Terrorism Squad, also took to Twitter clearing the confusion around the video.
"#FactCheck- A video of a gory murder by a cop outside a restaurant is floating since today morning on #socialmedia, triggering queries & confusion. On verification, it's attributed to a #webseries shot outside 'Friends Cafe' in Karnal Haryana as per the manager of the Cafe," Srivastav tweeted.
#FactCheck- A video of a gory murder by a cop outside a restaurant is floating since today morning on #socialmedia, triggering queries & confusion.
— RAHUL SRIVASTAV (@upcoprahul) April 12, 2021
On verification, it’s attributed to a #webseries shot outside ‘Friends Cafe’ in Karnal Haryana as per the manager of the Cafe. pic.twitter.com/63GHkScx9j
The UP Police also clarified saying the video is fake. "The video is of a cafe in Karnal, Haryana where a web series was shot. This fact has been confirmed by the café manager."
Even the J&K DGP Shesh Paul Vaid deleted the tweet, which he had posted after watching the video.
Based on all the clarifications, IBTimes has arrived at the conclusion that the viral video of a gory murder by a cop is fake and part of a web series shooting.
