Lighthouse Journalism came across an image being widely shared on social media platforms. In the image a bullet is seen stuck to the edge of the utensil. It is being claimed that the image is from the recent farmers’ protest. However, during the investigation it was found that the image shows a bullet that entered a house in Bangladesh after clashes between Myanmar’s rebel groups and ruling military establishment led to damage near the Bangladesh border, and gunshots were heard in several districts of Bandarbar and Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh.
Claim:
X user Pooja Kumari shared the viral image along with #FarmersProtest2024.
Other users too are sharing the same image with the same claim.
Investigation:
We started our investigation by doing a reverse image search on the image.
It was during a basic reverse image search that we came across a news report in Bangla.
The report was from a Bangladeshi news portal and was uploaded on February 16, 2024.
The news report mentioned: Myanmar bullets have come in the lid of the dexi (pan) of the kitchen of the locals living in the border area of Bangladesh.
The report described a shelling between Shahparir Dwip and St Martin in Teknaf.
Several other portals too carried the news along with the picture.
We also found the image on Dhaka Mail website.
The article titled in English translation said: Riots on the Bangladesh border due to the conflict in Myanmar. The report was published on 7 February, 2024.
Conclusion: Viral image of a bullet stuck in the lid of the utensil is not from the recent farmers’ protest where police opened fire. The image is from a recent incident when clashes in Myanmar led to bullets entering Bangladesh homes.
