Fact Check: Pak accounts FALSELY share Bangladesh video as Kolkata mosque demolition

A video of a mob allegedly demolishing a mosque has gone viral. Many Pakistan-based social media accounts shared the clip, claiming it showed a 136-year-old mosque near the Kolkata airport.One such post on Facebook read: “How can a mosque be a security risk??? A 136-year-old Ghauri Jami #mosque near #kolkata’s airport was demolished to turn it into a Ram Mandir. BJP-RSS goons ordered this. Now minority religions are treated like a threat in India. Absolutely insane!” A Pakistan-based news outlet, Gulf News Updates, shared this video on its YouTube channel, with a similar claim.India Today Fact Check found that the viral video is not from India, but from Bangladesh. There are no credible reports of a mosque near the Kolkata airport being demolished. OUR PROBEA keyword search led us to news reports by The Hindu and MoneyControl, published in July this year. According to them, the 136-year-old Gauripur Jama Masjid – also known as Bankra Mosque – stands roughly 165 metres from the airport's secondary runway, well short of standard aviation safety distances.This posed an obstacle to airport modernisation, wide-body aircraft movement, and installing low-visibility landing equipment for decades. While the previous Trinamool Congress government reportedly made no move to resolve the issue, the current BJP government initiated suspended Friday prayers at the mosque. A possible relocation of the mosque has also been discussed with concerned parties, though no resolution has been reached.Our search did not yield any report confirming demolition of the century-old structure yet.WHERE’S THE VIDEO FROM?A reverse image search of the video’s frames led us to a Facebook post by ChdNews24 dated September 20, showing the same structure being vandalised by a mob. According to the caption, the house belonged to a man accused of murder in Pabna district, which is located in Bangladesh.A further search led us to news reports from Bangladeshi outlets including The Daily Star, Jamuna TV and Prothom Alo. According to them, in Pabna district, a 10-year-old girl was raped and murdered. Police subsequently arrested two men, Mustafa Kamal and Mohammad Yasin.The incident sparked outrage among locals, and a mob vandalised Kamal's house over two consecutive days. None of the Bangladeshi reports mentioned the structure being a mosque.It is therefore evident that a video from Bangladesh was falsely shared as visuals of a mosque demolition in Kolkata.- EndsPublished By: Pathikrit SanyalPublished On: Sep 23, 2026 10:49 IST