A video aired by Indian news outlet Republic Bangla has sparked controversy amid rising tensions at the India-Bangladesh border following the construction of barbed wire fencing near Chapainawabganj. The video accuses Bangladeshis of crossing the border under the cover of darkness and destroying farmers' croplands in Sukdevpur, India.

In the footage, a man dressed in a lungi and t-shirt is seen trampling through a cauliflower field, allegedly causing damage. However, a FactWatch investigation reveals that the video was actually recorded inside Bangladesh, specifically in Gangni Upazila of Meherpur district. The farmers seen in the video were destroying their own crops in frustration over low market prices.

A reverse image search traced the video to the YouTube channel of Bangladesh’s private broadcaster, Maasranga TV. The original clip, posted on January 1, features interviews with the farmers who explained that they destroyed their cauliflowers out of anger over not receiving fair prices for their produce. Another in-depth report by the local broadcaster Nagorik TV corroborates this finding, confirming that the incident occurred in Gangni, Meherpur.

It is important to note that Sukdevpur, the location mentioned in Republic Bangla's report, is in India’s Malda district, directly across the border from Chapainawabganj in Bangladesh’s Rajshahi division. Meherpur, on the other hand, is located in Khulna division, far from the Indian border. This geographic inconsistency further disproves the claim.

FactWatch has labeled the Republic Bangla video as “false,” stating that it misrepresents a local Bangladeshi incident as an act of cross-border vandalism. The evidence confirms that the video was manipulated to propagate baseless allegations against Bangladeshis.

Original News Link: https://www.fact-watch.org/bangladeshi-farmers-attack-on-indian-farmers/