Policeman Tried To Steal Bike In Hapur, Uttar Pradesh? No, Video Viral With False Claim!

A video is viral claiming that a policeman tried to steal a bike in Hapur city of Uttar Pradesh. The video shows the policeman sitting on a motorcycle parked among other bikes on the road; he breaks the handle lock and tries to take away the bike but is interrupted by the two men.

Naresh Balyan, a member of legislative assembly associated with Aam Aadmi Party shared the video on Twitter. He captioned it in Hindi, "ये आज का मामला है, हापुड़ में @Uppolice का एक कॉन्स्टेबल बाइक चुराने की कोशिश करते हुए वीडियो में कैद हो गया है, योगी सरकार बनने के बाद चोर-पुलिस दोनों में कोई फर्क नही बचा, दोनो एक ही काम मिलकर कर रहे है। शर्म करो @myogiadityanath सरकार!"

[English translation: This is the case of today, a constable of @Uppolice in Hapur has been caught in the video trying to steal a bike. After the formation of the Yogi government, there is no difference between the thief and the police; both are doing the same work together. Shame on @myogiadityanath Govt!]

However, the tweet has been deleted now, but the screenshot can be seen below.

Mohammad Imran, a photojournalist at Amar Ujala also shared this video and wrote a caption in Hindi that reads, "चोर पकड़ने वाली पुलिस कितने शातिर तरीके से बाइक चोरी कर रहा है| उत्तर प्रदेश के हापुड़ में पुलिस वाले ने की बाइक चुराने की कोशिश."

[English Translation: The police who catch thieves cleverly steal the bike. A policeman tries to steal a motorcycle in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh]

A Facebook user shared the video and captioned it in Hindi, "चोर पकड़ने वाली पुलिस ही कितने शातिर तरीके से बाइक चोरी कर रही है। उत्तर प्रदेश के हापुड़ में पुलिस वाले ने की बाइक चुराने की कोशिश।"

[English translation: The police who catch thieves cleverly stealing the bike. A policeman tries to steal a motorcycle in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh]

A YouTube channel shared the video and titled, "ये Police है या चोर? UP के Policewale ने कर दिया चोरों वाला काम!| Hapur | UP Police | Theft".

It is being widely shared on Facebook with a similar claim.

Claim:

A policeman tried to steal a bike from the road in Hapur city of Uttar Pradesh.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the claim and found it false. The policeman was doing a routine checkup and was trying to take the unlocked vehicles to the police post to ensure their safety.

We extracted different keyframes from the viral video using the InVid tool and conducted a Google reverse image search. It led us to a Twitter thread of Aaj Tak, an Indian Hindi-language news channel.

On 18 December, Aaj Tak shared the video at 7:10 pm and captioned it in Hindi, "उत्तर प्रदेश के हापुड़ में पोलिसवाले ने की बाइक चुराने की कोशिश, वीडियो वायरल".

[English translation: Policeman tries to steal a bike in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, video goes viral.]

Later the same day, Aaj Tak shared another video at night and captioned, "मामले की पुष्टि करते हुए पुलिस ने बाद में जानकारी दी कि इस इलाके में सैकड़ों वाहन एक साथ खड़े होते हैं जिससे जाम की स्थिति और चोरी की संभावना रहती है. पुलिस कर्मियों द्वारा जिन वाहनों के लॉक खुले पाए जाते हैं उन्हें सुरक्षात्मक दृष्टि से चौकी पर लाकर खड़ा कराया जाता है".

[English translation: Confirming the matter, the police later informed that hundreds of vehicles are parked together in this area. There is a possibility of jam situation and theft. Vehicles whose locks are found open by police personnel are brought to the post for security purposes]

We found that the UP Police Fact Check team called out MLA Naresh Balyan and debunked the claim he shared in his Twitter post. UP Police Fact Check team shared the screengrab of the MLA's Twitter post and captioned it in Hindi, "बैंक के बाहर चाभी लगी मो०सा० को सुरक्षा के दृष्टिकोण से पुलिसकर्मी द्वारा चौकी लाया जा रहा था न कि वाहन चोरी किया जा रहा था। उक्त सम्बन्ध में @hapurpolice द्वारा भी खण्डन किया गया है। कृपया बिना सत्यापन के भ्रामक पोस्ट कर अफवाह न फैलाएं।"

[English translation: Motorcycle that was keyed outside the bank was brought to the outpost by the policeman from the point of view of security, and the vehicle wasn't stolen. In this regard, @hapurpolice has also clarified. Please don't spread rumours.]

We found that Hapur Police issued a clarification statement and shared it on Twitter. They captioned it in Hindi, "बैंक के बाहर चाभी लगी मोटरसाइकिल को सुरक्षा के दृष्टिकोण से पुलिसकर्मी द्वारा चौकी ले जाये जाने की घटना को भ्रामक रूप से यह कहकर दुष्प्रचारित किया जा रहा है कि पुलिसकर्मी द्वारा मोटरसाइकिल चोरी की जा रही है। #Hapurpolice इस असत्य एवं भ्रामक खबर का #खण्डन करती है।"

[English translation: The incident of a policeman carrying a keyed motorcycle outside the bank to a checkpoint from the security point of view is being misrepresented by saying that the policeman is stealing the bike. Harpur Police refute this false and misleading news.]

We also contacted Sarvesh Kumar Mishra, the Assistant Superintendent of Police at Hapur. Speaking to The Logical Indian, he said, "The unlocked vehicles were kept from a security point of view, and there is no risk of theft of these vehicles. These social media posts have gone viral on the basis of baseless and incomplete information".

Evidently, a video claiming that a policeman tried to steal a bike from the road in Hapur city of Uttar Pradesh is viral with a false claim. Instead, the policeman was doing a routine checkup and was trying to take the unlocked vehicles to the police post to ensure their safety.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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