Fact-checking links nail-studded baton video to July 20 CJP protest in Delhi
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Fact-checking website Alt News has disputed Delhi Police's claim that videos showing a police officer carrying a baton with nails attached were unrelated to the July 20 CJP protest in Delhi.
The videos surfaced after participants in the July 20 march alleged that police personnel were carrying nail-studded batons during the crackdown on protesters. Delhi Police described the claim as false and misleading, saying the videos were not connected to the protest.
The Press Information Bureau also shared the police's fact check, while DD News and OpIndia echoed the claim.
However, Alt News said its investigation found that one of the videos was recorded during the July 20 protest.
According to Alt News, an Instagram user, @ansh.visuals_, posted a video on July 20 showing protesters confronting police officers over a baton with nails attached. The post later became unavailable in India.
Alt News said the video was different from the one cited by Delhi Police but showed the same confrontation at the same location. The uploader shared the video's metadata with Alt News, which showed it was recorded on July 20 at 4.33 pm.
The fact-checking outlet said it also obtained a longer version of the video in which the baton was seen in the hands of a police officer identified as Vishal Tomar.
Alt News geolocated the footage to outside The Imperial Hotel on Janpath Road by comparing frames from the video with Google Maps Street View images.
It also cited the testimony of a protester who said demonstrators noticed the baton with nails and confronted police officers, including senior officials. The protester told Alt News they did not know whether the baton had been used but confirmed the confrontation took place during the July 20 protest.
Alt News also contacted Rahul Gaur, who posted another viral video that Delhi Police had fact-checked. Gaur told the outlet he had personally recorded the footage at the protest.
Based on the videos, metadata, geolocation and witness accounts, Alt News concluded that a Delhi Police officer was carrying a baton with nails attached during the July 20 protest. However, it said there is no evidence that the baton was used to assault protesters. It also concluded that Delhi Police's claim that the videos were unrelated to the protest was false.