Video from Bengaluru shared as 'vandalism by YSRCP supporters' in Andhra Pradesh

What has happened?

A 16-second video showing traffic police sweeping nails to the side of the road, accompanied by images of the nails, is being shared online. The posts shared with the video claim that this act of vandalism was committed because people did not vote for the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) in Andhra Pradesh.

The video depicts two traffic officers clearing a road and was shared with a Telugu caption that reads, “The psycho batch is throwing nails on the road because their leader lost the election and people did not vote,” along with hashtags for political parties in Andhra Pradesh: #TDP, #YSRCP, #JSP, #BJP. Archived versions of this post and similar posts can be found here and here.

The term 'psycho' in these social media posts is a derogatory term used by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its allies to describe YSRCP Chief and former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. In turn, YSRCP leaders refer to TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu, also Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, as a 'sadist.'

In the recent Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, the YSRCP lost to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the TDP, Jana Sena Party (JSP), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Screenshot of the claims circulating on social media (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this claim is false. Our investigation confirmed that the video was shot in Bengaluru, not Andhra Pradesh, and is unrelated to the political situation described.

Here are the facts

A reverse image search confirmed that the video originates from Bengaluru, not Andhra Pradesh. On July 28, 2024, local media outlet Asianet Newsable posted the video (archive here) on its YouTube channel with the caption, “WATCH | Bengaluru Traffic Police Cleans Road Swamped With Metal Nails.”

The description notes that traffic police in Bengaluru cleared a road covered in metal nails after motorists reported multiple punctures in the same location. Public TV (archive here), a Kannada news outlet, also shared the video on July 29, 2024, reporting that nails were found in the BEL and Kuvempu underpass and were cleaned by Jalahalli traffic police officers.

A Times of India report published on July 29, 2024, states that traffic officers Rangamma and Rahul Y from the Jalahalli Traffic Police station cleared nails from the Kuvempu underpass road near Jalahalli in north Bengaluru.

Logically Facts contacted the Jalahalli Traffic Police station and spoke to Head Constable Narsa Raju, who confirmed that the incident occurred within their jurisdiction. Raju said that two traffic constables from their station removed nails from the underpass road after they were repeatedly damaging vehicles. He added that the reason for the nails being on the road is still unknown, and similar incidents have occurred in the past.

Constable Raju suggested that the nails could have been placed by miscreants or possibly by local puncture shops, but the motive remains unclear. He emphasized that the incident is unrelated to Andhra Pradesh.

Further, T. Rangamma, one of the traffic officers seen in the video, confirmed that the incident took place in Bengaluru. On July 27, 2024, the Jalahalli Traffic Police Station shared video snippets and images of the incident on X (formerly Twitter) (archived here), with the caption: “Today, the police station staff noticed that vehicles were getting punctured due to nails that had fallen in the underpass of Kuvempu Circle, which is under the station's jurisdiction. They cleared the nails to ensure smooth vehicle movement (translated from Kannada)."

The verdict:

The video showing traffic police clearing nails from a road has been misleadingly shared with claims that it was a response by the YSRCP due to electoral losses. In reality, the video and incident occurred in Bengaluru, Karnataka, not Andhra Pradesh.