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  • FAKE ALERT: Mock drill video from Madhya Pradesh shared claiming terrorists captured
This story is from October 5, 2019

FAKE ALERT: Mock drill video from Madhya Pradesh shared claiming terrorists captured

A video showing Madhya Pradesh policemen capturing four men is being widely shared with a claim that four terrorists were captured alive in Vidisha.
FAKE ALERT: Mock drill video from Madhya Pradesh shared claiming terrorists captured
Key Highlights
  • A video showing Madhya Pradesh policemen capturing four men is being shared widely on Facebook with a false claim.
  • The false claim is that the men being captured are terrorists who attacked Vidisha district collectorate building under construction.
  • Times Fact Check has confirmed that the video is of a mock drill conducted by Vidisha Police.
CLAIM
A video showing Madhya Pradesh (MP) policemen capturing four men is being shared widely on Facebook with a claim that they are 'terrorists' who attacked the Vidisha district collectorate building that is under construction.
A Facebook page that goes by the name 'Mera Bharat' posted the video with a caption in Hindi that closely translates to, "Four terrorists entered the Vidisha district collectorate building that is under construction today.
However, Vidisha Police managed to capture them alive."
Facebook Post

The post has already been shared over 4,200 times and the video has been viewed more than 6,46,000 times.
TRUTH
The video is of a mock drill conducted by Vidisha Police.
The mock drill was conducted as per the orders of Vinayak Verma IPS, Superintendent of Police, Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh. In the mock drill, those who posed as terrorists acted as if they took labourers in a building under construction in front of the Vidisha collectorate as hostage. The mock drill was completed in 20 minutes.

VERIFICATION AND METHODOLOGY
Taking cue from the caption of the Facebook post, we searched on Google with relevant keywords in Hindi and found reports about the mock drill on local news websites.
A website called 'Khabar State' carried a report with all the information about the mock drill that was conducted by Vidisha Police and carried photos as well. The people in the photos carried on the website are those seen in the video that is being shared with the false claim.
Khabar State Report

Below is a screenshot from the Facebook video showing the exact moment when the photo above was clicked:
Vidisha Police

In fact, a report on Nai Dunia website said that the video of the mock drill went viral as terrorists being captured from a building near Vidisha collectorate and that the police later revealed that it was a mock drill.
Times Fact Check also reached out to Vidisha Police and got a confirmation that it was indeed a mock drill.
VERDICT
Times Fact Check has found that the video showing Madhya Pradesh policemen capturing four men, that is being shared widely with a claim that these four men are 'terrorists', is actually the video of a mock drill conducted by Vidisha Police.
The claim is, hence, false.
End of Article
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