Video Does Not Show Locals Driving Out Chinese Troops In Arunachal Pradesh

A video showing a group of people running along a hill has been shared with the misleading claim that it shows locals in Arunachal Pradesh driving out Chinese troops who had entered the area.

BOOM found that the video is not from Arunachal Pradesh but Nepal, where it shows a local religious celebration.

The video went viral amid a wave of deepfake videos falsely showing Indian defence officials admitting that Chinese troops had occupied parts of Indian territory. The videos surfaced amid renewed attention to the India-China border following recent remarks by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief Shatrujeet Singh Kapur about ongoing face-offs with Chinese forces. BOOM has fact-checked and already debunked several such videos.

The Claim

Several verified X handles shared the video with the claim, "Chinese troops allegedly entered Arunachal Pradesh, and now reports say locals pushed them back. If ordinary citizens had to step up, where were the authorities?"

Click here to view the post and here for an archive.

What We Found: Video Is From Nepal, Not Arunachal Pradesh

1. Video Traced to Nepal's Doti District: BOOM found the video on the Instagram and Facebook accounts of a Nepali user, Sunil Kunwar. The post identified the location as 'Woyl', referring to Wayal, a village in Nepal's Doti district. We also found several videos of the same event on the accounts of other Nepali users, featuring scenes similar to those seen in the viral clip. See here, here, and here.

The same blue house visible in the viral video can also be seen in the comparison below, further establishing that the footage is from the same location.

2. Video Shows Dashain Purnima Fair in Nepal: The posts on social media stated that the videos show the Dashain Purnima fair held in Wayal. The Dashain festival is celebrated in Nepal usually during the month of September and October, with celebrations spanning around two weeks. Animal sacrifice is also part of certain local religious traditions during the festival.

A Facebook user from Doti also refuted the viral claim, stating that the video shows scenes from the Dashain fair in Nepal.