DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A video showing a person in khaki uniform, being pushed around by a mob, has gone viral on social media. While the cop is seen trying to confront people standing around him, the caption of the video on Twitter reads: “Shoot at site order against peaceful pigs in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. Haldwani Uttarakhand SHO Anand Singh Thakur says ‘I came alone. I am standing alone. Touch me.’”
Shoot at site order against PEACEFUL PIGS in HALDWANI, UTTARAKHAND .#Haldwani #Uttarakhand
SHO ANAND SINGH THAKUR says
‘I came alone . I am standing alone. Touch me ‘ pic.twitter.com/GbtGSBCZxf— Aditya Raj (@adityaraj3102) February 9, 2024
The video was shared here without the first part but with #Haldwani hashtag:
“I have come alone. I’m standing alone. Put a hand on me🔥
#AnandSinghThakur#Haldwani pic.twitter.com/P5hniCE4TW— 𝔻ipak Ahir 🚩 (@dipak_ahir_) February 8, 2024
The video has gone viral in the context of violence in Haldwani where six people were killed and more than 100, including cops were injured on February 8, when the authorities tried to remove encroachments in the area.
FACT CHECK
Digiteye India received a WhatsApp request on its tipline to check the authenticity of the video. When the Digiteye India team checked key frames of the video on Google Reverse Image Search, the results showed that it was a video uploaded on Youtube on February 5, 2024, three days before the Haldwani incident took place. The original video belongs to an incident that occurred in Madhya Pradesh in Damoh district where communal riots took place. See the original videos in this context shown below:
Damoh cop, Shri Anand Singh Thakur who is surrounded by Jihadis & man in green shirt was the one who threatened to “chop cop’s hands”. Reminds of scene in Lion King when King Mufasa confronts Hyenas. Lion roars alone! C: unknown pic.twitter.com/P3QHO8ahTp
— Abhinav Bharat 🇮🇳 (@GoldDusters) February 5, 2024
The original video above can also be seen with the caption: “Damoh cop, Shri Anand Singh Thakur who is surrounded by Jihadis & man in green shirt was the one who threatened to “chop cop’s hands”. Reminds of scene in Lion King when King Mufasa confronts Hyenas. Lion roars alone! C: unknown”. In another citation, the same with the caption shows that it was from Damoh, Madhya Pradesh:
“Muslim Mob surrounded police station in Damoh Madhya Pradesh. They threatened to behead four youths in front of the Police. SHO Anand Singh Thakur confronted the mob alone and announced, ‘I have come alone. If you have guts, try to put your hand on me.”
It was also uploaded on the official YouTube channel of MP Tak on February 5, 2024. The cop was identified as Anand Singh Thakur, the town inspector of Damoh’s Kotwali police station, as per the local media reports. The report says that following a scuffle between a tailor and some local people, hundreds gathered at Damoh’s Kotwali police station, created a ruckus, and threatened to chop off the hands of people from the other side. After this, Thakur confronted them and warned them not to do any such harm.
Hence, the present viral video is not from the violence in Haldwani, Uttarakhand.
Claim: Video shows Haldwani SHO Anand Singh Thakur saying, “I came alone . I am standing alone. Touch me”
Conclusion: False. The video belongs to Damoh riots in Madhya Pradesh when Inspector Anand Singh Thakur dared the protestors.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
