Video shared as Durga pandal vandalism actually shows Amini, arrested over Shamim murder in Satkhira

The man in a video circulating on social media with the claim that a Muslim man attacked a Durga Puja pandal and a Hindu temple is in fact Fazlul Haque Amini, the prime accused arrested in the Shamim murder case in Satkhira. Investigation shows the video has no connection with any Puja pandal or temple vandalism.

The video was shared on 18 October by an X account named 'Jitendra pratap singh'. Its English caption claimed that the man had vandalised a Durga Puja pandal and a Hindu temple in Bangladesh and had been arrested.

The video shared on X has already been viewed more than 150,000 times. It has also drawn over 2,000 reactions, showing how quickly the claim reached a large number of people.

In the circulating video, a handcuffed man is seen among members of the Special Response Battalion (SRB). He is heard saying that in the eyes of the state he is a criminal, but what he is in the eyes of Allah is known to Allah alone. Asked whether he feels any remorse, he says, 'No.'

In the same video he further says that through threatening phone calls from atheists in various countries he became certain that the person concerned was an atheist, and that there was really no way to kill him — it happened 'accidentally'. The words 'Satkhira Thana' can be seen written behind him in the video.

Importantly, nowhere in the conversation in the circulated video is there any mention of Durga Puja, a pandal or temple vandalism. The very nature of the remarks makes clear that this is the statement of a man arrested in a different incident.

Following the remarks in the video, investigators found a visual match with a video report published on 18 October on the verified Facebook page of the news outlet Times of Bangladesh. That report was headlined as the arrest of Amini, the prime accused in the Shamim murder case involving a mob beating in Debhata, Satkhira.

A report published on 19 October in the national daily Ajker Patrika also provides details of the incident. In Debhata, Satkhira, a young man named Waheduzzaman Sana, alias Shamim (38), was killed in a mob beating over allegations of blasphemy.

Police arrested Fazlul Haque Amini, the prime accused in that murder case, on the night of 17 October. While giving his statement in court, Amini claimed that Shamim was an atheist and that he had no intention of killing him — the incident happened 'accidentally'.

Speaking before the judge, he also said that even if he is a criminal in the eyes of the law, what he is in the eyes of Allah is known to Allah alone. The remarks in the video spread on X match exactly this post-statement commentary.

Therefore, the claim that a Muslim man was arrested after vandalising a Durga Puja pandal and temple in Bangladesh and was seen smiling before the media is baseless. In reality, an interview with the prime accused arrested over a mob-beating death in Debhata, Satkhira, is being circulated under a different claim.

False claims of this kind during the festival season carry the risk of fuelling communal tension. Verifying the true context of a video before sharing it has therefore become more important than ever.