The claim that National Citizens’ Party (NCP) northern organizer Sarjis Alam and southern organizer Hasnat Abdullah were arrested by the army on the orders of Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman over alleged involvement in mob formation and looting is false. This claim was made in a thumbnail accompanying a video uploaded to YouTube. As of this report's publication, the video has been viewed approximately 1.041 million times, with reactions from around 1,400 separate accounts.

Fact-check

An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team reveals that the claim of arresting Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah under orders from the army chief for mob formation or looting is not true. In fact, in an attempt to gain high viewership, various unrelated video clips have been combined using digital tools and presented with sensational thumbnails and titles to propagate a baseless narrative.

At the outset of the investigation, the Rumor Scanner team reviewed the referenced video. Although the thumbnail and title mention that Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah were arrested due to mob-related violence, the video content provides no such information or discussion. The video opens with a news anchor saying, “There is no scope for sabotage in the name of mob. These words were said to NCP leader Sarjis in Rangpur by army officials.” A subsequent segment shows footage of a military officer speaking with Sarjis Alam regarding the mob situation. Afterward, several unrelated clips are shown that have no relevance to the arrest claim.

Video Verification 1

A reverse image search on several keyframes from the video’s opening news anchor segment led to a report published on June 1 on the YouTube channel of the electronic media outlet NEWS24. The video was titled “There is no scope for sabotage in the name of mob, Sarjis Alam told by army officer | NCP | NEWS24.”

Upon reviewing the report, it was found that the footage of the news anchor in the investigated video matches exactly with the NEWS24 report. According to the report, the army interrogated leaders from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and BNP on June 1 following an attack and vandalism incident at the Rangpur residence of GM Quader, chairman of the Jatiya Party (JaPa). During that time, NCP leader Sarjis Alam arrived at the location and met with Brigadier General Humayun Kayum, Commander of the 72nd Infantry Brigade. The report does not mention any arrest of Sarjis Alam; rather, he is later seen speaking to the media following his meeting with the army officer.

Video Verification 2

The investigated video also includes footage of Sarjis Alam speaking with a military officer, which appears to be from the same incident. A reverse image search of several keyframes from this portion led to the original video published on June 1 on the YouTube channel of Porikroma News titled “Army speaks with Sarjis Alam in Rangpur | Porikroma News.”

In this video, Brigadier General Humayun Kayum of the 72nd Infantry Brigade is seen discussing mob-related matters with Sarjis Alam in the context of the Rangpur incident.

Further keyword searches in mainstream and reliable media sources yielded no evidence to support the claim that Sarjis Alam or Hasnat Abdullah had been arrested for involvement in mob formation. In contrast, a day after the claim circulated—on June 3—Sarjis Alam was seen speaking to the media following discussions with the Consensus Commission. Similarly, on June 6, Hasnat Abdullah was seen extending Eid greetings through a video posted from his personal Facebook account.

Therefore, the claim that Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah were arrested on the orders of the army chief for mob formation and looting is entirely false.

Original News Source: https://rumorscanner.com/fact-check/false-claims-on-sarjis-hasnat-arrest-for-looting-under-army-chief/155480