According to India Today Fact Check, this video has been online since November and has nothing to do with the lynching of Dipu Das.
Fact-Checked: Viral Footage Misrepresents Bangladesh Police and Dipu Das
Social media users have taken to sharing a video of Bangladeshi police dragging a man by his collar. This video, according to those who shared it, shows the last moments of Dipu Chandra Das, a 25-year-old Hindu man who was killed by a mob in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, after being accused of blasphemy. Notably, the Rapid Action Battalion of Bangladesh has declared that it has not discovered any proof of blasphemy against Das.
Many people shared this video with statements like “Deepu Chandra Das kept crying,” including Tajinder Bagga of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He continued to beg. However, a fanatical Muslim mob killed him after the Bangladeshi police turned him over to them. Deepu repeated himself over and over. I’m innocent, sir. I’m innocent, sir. I have done nothing wrong, sir.
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“He was pleading till his last moments” was the caption for another one of these posts. Deepu Chandra Das continued to sob. He continued to beg, but the Bangladeshi police turned him over to violent radicals for execution.
According to India Today Fact Check, the footage was posted online before to Dipu Das’s lynching in November.
Our Analysis
We found the original clip that was posted on November 18 by Bhorer Kagoj, a Bangladeshi news portal, by reverse searching keyframes from the viral video. “What happened to this Dhaka College student?” was the post’s caption.
This clearly shows that the video had nothing to do with Dipu Das’s passing. Several news sources state that on Thursday, December 18, in Mymensingh’s Bhaluka Upazila, Das was beaten to death and his body was burned.
A close examination of the initial 47-second footage uncovered a number of interesting details. The man in police detention can be heard stating, “Brother, I am from Dhaka College, brother,” in Bangla around the nine-second mark.
Das worked in the Pioneer Knit Composite Factory in Mymensingh City’s Square Masterbari neighborhood. The Bangladesh Rapid Action Battalion claims that Das was turned over to the mob after being forced to retire by Alamgir Hossain, the factory floor manager.
He repeats the same thing at the fifteen-second mark. He also states, “If the DC hadn’t intervened, they would have killed me,” around the 29-second mark. I was saved by him.
Additionally, portions of the viral video were removed from this version. At the 32-second mark, the policeman lets the man leave and says, “You first go, go from here.” A second voice then asks, “Where will you go first, to the Hall or Hospital?” The man replies, “The Hall,” in Bangla. Halls are residential dorms where students reside in Bangladesh.
Additionally, we discovered that the individual was sporting a T-shirt with the words “Session 2022–23” inscribed on the right side and the Dhaka College logo on the left. The moniker “Momin” is printed on the back of his T-shirt in a segment taken from the popular video.
India Today Fact Check sent this video to Bangladeshi reporters and fact-checkers so they might investigate further. Masud Alam, the Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Ramana Department), was identified as the police officer who was observed releasing the man. Notably, Dipu Chandra Das was lynched almost 90 kilometers from Dhaka City in the Mymensingh district’s Bhaluka Upazila.
Additionally, another man states in Bangla at the conclusion of the original film, “We came from our campus just now, you have to be more careful.”
We discovered a separate video of the same incident, dated November 18, on the Dainik Sokal Facebook page, which is situated in Bangladesh. This image shows Dhaka Metropolitan Police DC Masud Alam assisting the man in getting into a rickshaw and returning to his accommodation.
“DC Masud sent the injured student to the hall by renting a rickshaw in Dhanmondi 32,” read the Bangla description for the video. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s previous personal apartment is called Dhanmondi 32. It is situated in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, and currently houses the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.
Consequently, it is obvious that an old film is being misrepresented as Dipu Chandra Das’s last pleas for forgiveness.
