Fact Check: Did the Indian Army refuse to lathi-charge those protesting against Agnipath

New Delhi, Jun 21: India witnessed violent protests following the announcement of the Agnipath scheme. There are several fake claims that have flooded the internet following the announcement and the subsequent violence.

Amidst this a video of soldiers has gone viral with the claim that they refused to lathi charge the protesters. Many took to Facebook to share the video claiming that the jawans refused to lathi-charge protesters even at the risk of losing their jobs. The users also said that the police should also support the protesters just like the jawans.

This claim is baseless, OneIndia has learnt. The Indian Army has not been deployed in any of the places where the protests took place against the Agnipath scheme. We even checked across many news reports but found that the Army has not been deployed amidst these protests.

A reverse image search led us to the viral video that was posted on several YouTube channels. The video shows the crowd stopping the Army vehicle on the road while greeting them and shaking hands with them. No where does the video show that the Army truck amidst a situation which required action.

This makes it clear that the claim that the Indian Army soldiers refused to lathi-charge the protesters following the Agnipath announcement is baseless.