Fake news: Rumor Scanner debunks Indian media's claim that Pakistani forces patrolling inside Bangladesh

Fact-checking organisation Rumor Scanner has debunked a widespread report published in Indian media that Pakistani forces are patrolling inside Bangladesh.

"Recently, a video circulated on social media claiming that Pakistan's Special Armed Forces entered the court premises in Rajshahi. The same video has been circulated in the Indian media as the street scene of Dhaka," said a Rumor Scanner report published on its website.

Indian media outlet AajTak Bangla published a report showing the video where the outlet claimed that SWAT team members from Pakistan's Punjab had arrived in Dhaka. Bangladeshi lawyer Nijhoom Majumder was asked about this in the report.

In the AajTak report, Majumber can be heard claiming, from 6 minutes 20 seconds of the report, that such incidents of Pakistani Army roaming the streets of Dhaka under the guise of SWAT or Pakistani soldiers coming down on the streets of Bangladesh are unprecedented.

"In another portion of the same video report, Majumder claimed that Bangladesh Army Chief General Walker-uz-Zaman is a militant leader. In his speech, he claimed that he found out at the army chief's village house in Sherpur that General Walker used to study in cadet college during his student life."

Majumder shared the video report on his Facebook page. See videos circulating on Facebook with the same claim here (archive), here (archive), here (archive).

Fact Check

Rumor Scanner revealed that the video does not depict Pakistani armed forces patrolling in Bangladesh. Instead, it shows members of the Crisis Response Team (CRT), a specialised unit of the Bangladesh Police. 

These personnel were assigned to provide security during the transfer of former Awami League lawmaker of Rajshahi-3 constituency Asaduzzaman Asad to Rajshahi Metropolitan Magistrate Court-1 on 12 December.

During the investigation, the fact-checking team analysed the video and identified "CRT" written on the back of one of the team members' uniforms. Additionally, the Bangladeshi flag was visible on another member's uniform.

This evidence led to the discovery of a short video titled "This is the Bangladesh CRT (Crisis Response Team)" published on 25 December by the YouTube channel National Dialogue Bangla (NDB).

Reviewing the video, it was found that it is exactly the same as the video in question. In addition, the title of the video reveals that the video was recorded in the Rajshahi court premises and the name of the force seen in the video is Crisis Response Team or CRT.

A video published on the YouTube channel of online media Jagonews24 on 13 December under the title 'Tension around the prison van - Former MP Asad victim of egg attack' reports that on 12 December, former Rajshahi-3 constituency MP and Awami League leader Asaduzzaman Asad was being taken to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court-1 in Rajshahi when angry BNP-Jamaat leaders and activists attacked his prison van.

Reviewing the video, it is found that the clothing of the force providing security to him at that time is exactly the same as the clothing of the force in the video in question. CRT is also written on the back of their clothing.

Also, the location of the video in question is quite similar to the court premises.

A report published on the Jagonews24 website on 29 August 2018 revealed that the CRT or Crisis Response Team is a specialised team of the Bangladesh Police. The team works to combat major violent situations, including combating militancy and preventing drug smuggling. The report also revealed that this specialised team of the police started its journey in Sylhet after Chattogram and Rajshahi.

In other words, the specialised team of the police, the Crisis Response Team or CRT, is being falsely claimed as a Pakistani armed force.

Meanwhile, lawyer Nijhum Majumder did not present any evidence against the allegations made in Aajtak Bangla about Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman. Last June, with the news of General Waker's appointment as army chief, a brief biography of him was published on the website of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). After reviewing this biography, no information was found about his studies at any cadet college, which Nijhum Majumder is claiming. When contacted, ISPR authorities told Rumor Scanner that General Waker never studied at a cadet college.

Therefore, the information circulating on the internet claiming that Pakistani forces are patrolling Bangladesh is completely false, said Rumor Scanner.