DNA Verified: Old video from Bangladesh falsely shared as unrest in West Bengal's Malda

Amid recent violence in West Bengal's Malda, a video is doing rounds on social media claiming to be from the same incident. The viral video shows a mob vandalising vehicles and setting them ablaze. An X user named ‘Islamist Cannibal’ shared the video on March 28, which shows a mob setting fire to vehicles parked on the streets. The user claimed the video depicted an incident in Malda, where people from a particular faith attacked Hindus with stones and set their vehicles on fire. 

The user wrote, "Islamist mayhem continues in Malda, West Bengal. A mob of Muslims set fire to Hindus' vehicles and attacked them with stones. Are Hindus in India so helpless that they cannot even retaliate?" the user wrote in the caption while sharing the video." Check out the post here:

Breaking Alert Bharat 

Islamist mayhem continues in Malda, West Bengal.
A mob of Muslims set fire to Hindus' vehicles and attacked them with stones.
Are Hindus in India so helpless that they cannot even retaliate..? pic.twitter.com/9PeThTCiRB

— Islamist Cannibal (@Raviagrawal300) March 28, 2025

Fact Check

In our investigation, the claim is found to be false. The viral video is not from Malda but from a November 2023 incident in Bangladesh. Firstly, we ran the video through the InVid tool and extracted multiple keyframes. Running one of the keyframes through Google Lens, we found that multiple users had shared it with similar claims. Check here. Moreover, the search results via Google Lens led us to a YouTube video published by the Bangladesh-based news channel Prothom Alo on November 26, 2023. The video was shared with the description: "Torchlight procession and vehicle vandalism in support of the blockade in Sylhet."

On investigating further, we found a report confirming widespread vandalism and arson during a 48-hour blockade in Sylhet. Check HERE. We also found a tweet from the West Bengal Police, which also termed the claim in viral video as FAKE. The police wrote, "The attached video of arson and vandalism is being circulated on social media from certain quarters as an incident in the Malda district. This claim is completely FAKE. This video captures events from November 2023 in the Sylhet region of Bangladesh and has no connection whatsoever with yesterday's incident in Malda." Check out the tweet here.

The attached video of arson and vandalism is being circulated on social media from certain quarters as an incident of Malda district. This claim is completely FAKE. This video captures events of November, 2023 in Sylhet region of Bangladesh and has no connection whatsoever with… pic.twitter.com/5IlmqcFUWO

— West Bengal Police (@WBPolice) March 28, 2025

Conclusion

Hence, the claim in the viral video is FALSE. The video is from Bangladesh, and not of Malda.