Video from Rajasthan shared as 'Muslims attempting to derail train in Kerala'

What is the claim?

A video circulating on social media depicts railway staff removing stones from a railway track and a small iron rod inserted in a railway track joint. Assamese Online, a Facebook page identifying itself as a news portal, shared the video on March 23, 2024, with the caption, "Video shows Muslims attempting to derail a train in Kerala" (translated from Assamese). Archived versions of this post and another sharing the same claim can be found here and here.  

 A screenshot of a social post sharing the viral video. (Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

The same video was shared on March 28 on Facebook (archived here), with an approximate translation of the Bengali caption reading, "There are many such 'children of (slur for a sex worker)' in this country who eat from this country but are also ready to cause harm to the country."

However, this video is from October 2023, depicting an incident in Rajasthan, where two children reportedly placed stones on a railway track.

What did we find?

We conducted a reverse image search on a keyframe of the video and discovered an NDTV report featuring the same clip on October 2, 2023. According to the report, during the journey of the Udaipur-Jaipur Vande Bharat Express to Jaipur, the train's pilot spotted stones placed on the tracks that could have derailed the train. The report stated, "A video recorded at the spot shows railway staffers removing the stones from the tracks."

 Screenshot of NDTV report featuring the viral video. (Source: NDTV/Screenshot)

The earliest version" of the video we found on social media (archived here) was posted by @Railwhispers on October 2, 2023, with the caption, "UDZ To JP #VandeBharatExpress Today on #Bhilwara track #Miscreants must be arrested!"

According to News 18, the incident occurred around 10 a.m. on October 2, 2023, in the Gangarar-Soniyana section of Rajasthan's Chittorgarh district. The report quotes North Western Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Capt. Shashi Kiran, as saying that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) has registered a case under the Railways Act. 

Additionally, we found a report by India Today on October 4, 2023, which mentions a police statement implicating two children in the incident. "According to Gangrar Deputy Superintendent of Police Shrawan Das, two children had casually placed stones and iron rods on the railway tracks while playing," it reported, adding that the police detained both accused. 

While we couldn't independently verify whether the viral video has a communal angle, given the reported involvement of minors in the incident, it's evident that the video is not from Kerala, as claimed. 

The verdict 

The video dates back to October 2023 and depicts stones placed on a railway track in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan. It has been incorrectly shared as a train derailment attempt by Muslims in Kerala. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.