A video of an army lathi charge during riots in Bangladesh’s general elections is being shared as an incident from West Bengal
On 1 April 2026, in Malda, West Bengal, a group of people allegedly held judicial officers hostage for several hours while they were on election duty. Reports also suggest that there was an attempt to attack the officers (here, here). Meanwhile, a video is going viral on social media showing army personnel beating up people [...] The post A video of an army lathi charge during riots in Bangladesh’s general elections is being shared as an incident from West Bengal appeared first on FACTLY .
On 1 April 2026, in Malda, West Bengal, India, reports emerged of judicial officers being held hostage for several hours while they were performing their duties during the general elections. There were also claims that the officers were attacked, though the extent of the violence was unclear. Simultaneously, a video was gaining widespread attention on social media, showing army personnel using sticks to disperse a crowd. The video was being shared with the misleading claim that it depicted the Indian Army intervening in Malda during the West Bengal elections.
However, a closer examination of the video revealed that it was not related to India at all. The footage, which had gone viral, actually captured an army lathi charge during riots in Bangladesh's general elections. The incident took place in Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh, in February 2026. At the time, protestors attempted to seize control of a polling station, prompting local army personnel to use lathis to disperse the crowd.
The confusion arose when the video was mistakenly attributed to West Bengal. This error was likely due to the timing of the video's resurgence, as it coincided with the West Bengal elections. Additionally, the video's origin was traced back to Jamuna TV, a Bangladeshi news channel. The channel had posted the video on its official Facebook page on 12 February 2026, with clear details about the incident occurring in Bangladesh.
Multiple media outlets had initially shared the video with the same misleading information. However, upon verifying the facts, it became evident that the video had nothing to do with India or West Bengal. The incident in question was solely related to Bangladesh's elections.
In conclusion, a video of an army lathi charge during riots in Bangladesh's general elections was mistakenly shared as an incident from West Bengal. The confusion stemmed from the timing of the video's resurgence and its association with the West Bengal elections. However, thorough fact-checking revealed that the video was actually from Bangladesh, where it accurately depicted local army personnel responding to protests during the country's elections. This highlights the importance of verifying information before sharing it, especially during times of heightened political activity and social media engagement.
