Fact Check: This video DOES NOT show the Chinese Army in Arunachal Pradesh

The viral video is from Karnataka and shows a mock drill exercise.

India Today Fact Check

Claim
This video shows China’s People’s Liberation Army in Arunachal Pradesh frisking Indian soldiers.

Fact
This video is from Bengaluru, Karnataka, and shows an Indian Army mock drill.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police Director General Shatrujeet Kapur said on October 22 that face-offs occurred with China at several locations along the border in Arunachal Pradesh over the past few days. The Ministry of External Affairs also said clashes occurred when Chinese forces violated established patrolling patterns in border pockets.

A video now going viral on social media allegedly shows China’s People's Liberation Army in Arunachal Pradesh. The clip shows a green vehicle on the road in front of a shop, and men in military uniform frisking people standing with their hands raised. A Pakistani X user shared the video with the caption, “Chinese soldiers searching Indian troops inside Arunachal Pradesh while the Indian army has to ask the PLA for transit permission just to move through its own claimed territory.”

India Today Fact Check found that the video shows a mock drill by Indian forces in Karnataka.

OUR PROBE

Reverse-searching frames from the video led us to a better-quality and longer version of it uploaded to a YouTube channel on May 15. The channel did not provide any details about the video. This, however, proved that the video had nothing to do with the recent face-offs with China along the Arunachal border.

We analysed this video carefully and found two shops whose names were featured in Kannada. The shop in front of which the vehicle was parked was called “Balaji Tiffin, Tea Centre & Chat”. Another shop on the opposite side was called “Jagadamba Tools”. This hinted that it was likely from Karnataka.

The “Jagadamba Tools” signage featured the name and contact number of its owner, Sohan Singh Rajput. Speaking to India Today Fact Check, he confirmed that he had shot the video in Devanahalli in Bengaluru in May this year. He added that it showed a mock drill by Indian forces.

Thus, we concluded that the video is from Bengaluru, Karnataka.

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