Punjab police chief issued notices to female officers for dancing video

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and has established that the claim is false.

To arrive to this verdict, the iVerify Pakistan team has talked to the relevant police official and investigated the video.

HOW IT STARTED

On January 22, 2024, a post was shared by a social media user, who appears to be a PTI supporter based on his past posts and display picture, on platform X with the caption: “Notice issued to all female police personnel. Punjab police was dancing to [Pakistani pop singer] Malkoo’s song Nak Da Koka (which was written on Imran Khan) when Punjab IG Dr Usman saw the video and took strict action and issued a notice to all the officials.”

The post also shared a video of what looked to be female police officers dancing traditionally in a circle. It did not mention the time, place, date, location, setting or context of the video.

The post received over 95,000 views.

The post was shared by other PTI supporters with another X user’s post with the same caption gaining over 3,100 views.

The video was also posted here, here and here.

The video was also posted on various social media platforms such as TikTok and Youtube.

METHODOLOGY

The iVerify Pakistan team sought to determine the veracity of the claim since it asserted that action was taken against female police officials rejoicing over a song affiliated with the PTI and its chief Imran Khan amid an ongoing crackdown on the party.

Contacting Dawn reporter Wasim Riaz pointed the team to the Police Training College (PTC), Chung, in Lahore. The reporter said he had approached the office of Punjab Inspector General (IG) of Police Dr Usman Anwar regarding the matter and was directed to address the questions to the college staff since the incident was related to it.

Contacting Commandant PTC Chung Deputy IG Mehboob Aslam for comment, the official said: “No such thing happened in our college. It’s an old video made by someone from their mobile and they edited it with the song.”

He further said that “no notice was taken by my office nor by the IG Punjab.”

Analysing the video itself, the audio did not seem organic to the recording.

Contacted for comment, Affan Ahmed Khan, digital manager for Dawn News and a video editor, said: “It is clearly seen that the audio is added separately because if it was recorded in real time then it would not have been that clear and there would have been an echo present.”

He said that a recording from an “open area” as in the video is never “so clear and sharp” as the song in the clip.

CONCLUSION

The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claim circulating on social media regarding the IG Punjab issuing notices to female police officers is false as the relevant police official denied any such happening.

Examination of the video also led the team to conclude that the song is overlaid onto the clip instead of being a natural component of the recording, thus rendering the claim asserted about it in the circulated posts as suspect.

Evidence and References

Circulated posts of dancing video of female police officers:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240123094041/https://twitter.com/MaidahMuhammad/status/1749159361698554288?s=20

https://web.archive.org/web/20240123094452/https://twitter.com/Shafiqkhosa1090/status/1749367443469062179?s=20

https://web.archive.org/web/20240123095125/https://www.tiktok.com/@mujahidali4013/video/7326740105740242182?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7311602570443113992

https://web.archive.org/web/20240123095340/https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aLcW-ilEi_c