Fact Check: Old Video Of Action Against Illegal Construction In Peshawar Shared Falsely Amid India-Pakistan Tension
Vishvas News, in its investigation, found that the viral video is from Peshawar, Pakistan and shows the demolition of unauthorised structures by local authorities. The video is being shared with a misleading claim by falsely attributing it to India’s military action.
- By: Umam Noor
- Published: May 19, 2025 at 11:14 AM
New Delhi (Vishvas News): Amid the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan, several videos and pictures are being shared across various social media platforms with misleading claims. One such viral video shows multiple structures being demolished in a densely populated area. Users are sharing it with claims that it shows destruction in Sialkot as part of an Indian military operation.
Vishvas News investigated the claim and found that the video is from Peshawar, Pakistan, and it is related to the demolition of unauthorised constructions and is not related to any military operation.
What is in the viral post?
Facebook user ‘Chandrashekhar‘ shared the viral post on May 12, 2025, with the caption, “India attacked Pakistan. Who will identify? Sialkot or Gaza. Note – no one will Google it.”
See the archive version of the post here.
Investigation
To begin our investigation, we first extracted the key frames from the viral video and searched them using Google Lens. This led us to a video uploaded on the X handle on May 13, 2025, falsely attributed to India’s military action. However, in the comment section of the post, several users clarified that the video features a demolition campaign conducted by the Peshawar administration against illegal construction.
Based on this information, we searched the frame of the video on Google Reverse Image using relevant keywords including ‘Peshawar’. This led us to the same video uploaded on a TikTok account on March 27, 2025. Since TikTok is banned in India, we accessed the video via a VPN (Virtual Private Network). According to the caption here, this is a video of Phase-3 Chowk in Peshawar.
Continuing our investigation, we came across a similar video uploaded on a Facebook page on March 28, 2025. The caption stated, “Action was taken against illegal construction and encroachment on University Road”.
Further searches led us to a related news published on the Kasauti Digital Peshawar website on March 27, 2025. According to the report, “The Peshawar District Administration demolished 18 illegal buildings in Phase-3 Chowk of Hayatabad against encroachment in the provincial capital. DC Peshawar Sarmad Salim Akram has said that 8 kanal valuable land worth more than Rs 2.5 billion was also recovered from the encroachment mafia.”
During our investigation, we found a related post shared on March 27 on the official Facebook page of the ‘Deputy Commissioner Peshawar’. The post included several pictures, along with the caption stating, “Following the orders of the provincial government, the Peshawar District Administration launched a major campaign against encroachment and 18 illegal buildings were demolished. While 8 Kanal of valuable government land was recovered from the encroachment mafia. The total value of the recovered land is more than Rs 2.5 billion, which was illegally occupied by the encroachment mafia. The district administration, police, PDA, Capital Metropolitan Government, civil defense and revenue officials fully participated in this large-scale operation.”
To verify the viral video, we contacted Arshad Yusufzai, a Peshawar-based journalist with Arab News and shared the viral post with him. He confirmed, “This video is related to a campaign against encroachment in Peshawar in March.”
Next, we conducted a social scan of the Facebook user ‘Chandrashekhar’ who shared the fake post and found that the user has over 3000 followers and a history of sharing misleading content.
Conclusion: Vishvas News, in its investigation, found that the viral video is from Peshawar, Pakistan and shows the demolition of unauthorised structures by local authorities. The video is being shared with a misleading claim by falsely attributing it to India’s military action.
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