Viral video of Islamabad cop severely beating a man inside van

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has reviewed this content and determined that it is misleading.

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team conducted a keyword search to look for the video or any news story reporting on it.

Posts from several users on social media platform X on December 27, 2024, shared a video of an Islamabad police officer abusing and beating a man inside a vehicle. However, the video is of an old incident from April 2024.

HOW IT STARTED

On December 27, a user on X, who is a PTI supporter based on their past posts, shared a video showing a police officer brutally abusing and beating a man by pulling his hair and slapping him inside a vehicle.

The post’s caption said, “All the Pharaohs are recruited in Islamabad Police. Look how this oppressor is oppressing the young man from Hassan Abdal.”

The post did not provide any details or context about the video such as its location, date or background.

The post received 586,800 views and was shared 5,700 times.

The video was also reposted by senior journalist Hamid Mir and former anchorperson Imran Riaz, gaining 225,400 and 189,100 views, respectively.

The video was also shared on Facebook and YouTube.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to verify the claim due to its virality and the shocking nature of the abuse the man was being subjected to in the video.

A reverse image search and keyword search for “Islamabad police beats man inside patrol mobile” did not yield any current news report or coverage of the alleged incident by media outlets.

However, a news report dated April 24, 2024, by media outlet Aaj News titled: “Islamabad cop suspended after video of violence in police mobile goes viral” was found that used screenshots from the video.

As per the report, the Islamabad police had suspended Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Muhammad Farooq after a video of him severely beating suspected thieves in a police van spread on social media.

According to the news report, the police had arrested two men suspected of stealing mobile phones.

A Dec 27 post on X by the Islamabad police replying to Mir was also found that referred to the same incident. “This is a year-old video. These boys were caught red-handed while stealing and handed over to the police. After this incident, police officer ASI Farooq was suspended and departmental action was taken, for which the said officer was also punished.”

FACT-CHECK STATUS: MISLEADING

The claim regarding a video showing an Islamabad policeman manhandling a detainee inside a van is misleading.

The video is an old one from April 2024 and the cop in question was suspended with action taken against him. Omitting this vital context about the original date has the potential to misguide the public, needlessly create controversy and arouse anger towards the police.

Evidence and References

April 24, 2024, Aaj News report:
https://english.aaj.tv/news/330359040/islamabad-cop-suspended-after-video-of-violence-in-police-mobile-goes-viral

Dec 27, 2024, Islamabad police X post:
https://perma.cc/5HLM-JFLR