In the backdrop of the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, an image has surfaced on social media platforms showing a policeman carrying a dead body, wrapped in a shroud, on his shoulders.
The image is being shared with a claim that it shows an incident from Badaun, Uttar Pradesh where a family abandoned the deceased and no ambulances were available, insinuating that the incident is related to COVID death.
A Facebook user shared the image with a caption in Hindi that can be roughly translated to, “In Badaun district, a policeman is carrying the dead body on his shoulder, the condition is so so bad that they did not even get an ambulance. Loved ones also abandoned.”
The image is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
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FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above post and found it to be shared with a false claim.
While checking on Facebook, we found a post by Sandeep Verma, DSP of Uttar Pradesh Police, with a caption suggesting that the policeman seen the viral image is Sub Inspector Prashant Singh.
We reached out to SI Prashant Singh, who is currently posted at Etmaddulah Police Station, Agra. He confirmed to us that this image dates back to June 2020 and is from Agra.
“Last year I was posted at Fatehpur Sikri police station in Agra,” Prashant said. “We were informed about a dead body found in a pond in Kachhpura village. I went there with some colleagues. The body was of an elderly person and was in a very deformed condition. The ambulance could not go inside the village near the pond where the dead body was found. So, we carried the body on the shoulder for about half a kilometre to reach the place where the ambulance was parked,” he added.
Sub Inspector Prashant also shared a video of the incident with us. In this video, one can see how the policemen carrying the dead body are passing through the narrow footpaths of the village.
Hence, an old video from Agra, dating back to June 2020 where policemen are taking a dead body to an ambulance is being shared with a false claim that the incident is related to a COVID death from Badaun, UP.
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