Video from Maharashtra shared as Bengaluru traffic cop assaulting biker

What is the claim?

A video capturing a police officer physically assaulting and shoving a man beneath a flyover has been shared with the claim that the incident is from Bengaluru, the capital of the southern state of Karnataka. The claim suggests that the Bengaluru police is "violating human rights" and exhibiting "rowdy" behavior under the Congress party's governance. An archived version of this post can be accessed here.

Screenshot of the viral video circulating online. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claim is false. The video is old, and the footage is from Maharashtra, not Bengaluru.

Here are the facts

A reverse image search led us to the same footage on the YouTube channel of Sakal, a Maharashtra-based news outlet, uploaded on May 21, 2023. The Marathi description reveals that a traffic police constable, identified as Pradeep Chavan, was involved in an altercation with a young man on May 20, 2023, near Kranti Chowk in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, formerly known as Aurangabad. This incident occurred while the BJP and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) were at the helm in Maharashtra.

A report by ABP Majha, dated May 20, 2023, cited a screenshot from the now-viral video, with the caption, “Bike rider brutally beaten by traffic police; Video from Sambhajinagar goes viral (sic).” The incident, now viral, was investigated by the Kranthi Chowk Police Station.

Moreover, the Mumbai Traffic Police confirmed through their X account on May 21, 2023, that the incident occurred in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar district, Maharashtra.

Additionally, Logically Facts geolocated the scene and determined that the incident took place at Kranti Chowk in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The flyover's structure and the barricades correspond with those seen in the viral video.

Comparison of the viral video and the location on Google Maps. (Source: X/Google Maps)

The verdict

The video, dating back to 2023, depicts a traffic police officer in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad) assaulting a biker following a traffic signal violation. The incident's location was misattributed to Bengaluru, Karnataka. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.