Claim: A video shows a police officer in Pakistan-administered Kashmir beating a man on the street.
Fact: The clip is from Lahore and is unrelated to recent unrest in Kashmir.
On 29 July 2026, a Facebook account named Shoaibraziq shared a video of an officer assaulting a man surrounded by other law enforcement personnel. The caption reads:
یہ مناظر مقبوضہ کشمیر کے نہیں بلکہ آزاد کشمیر کے ہیں، اور اس میں نظر آنے والی فورس بھارتی نہیں بلکہ پاکستانی فورس ہے۔”
“ویڈیو میں ایک کشمیری شدید بے بسی کی حالت میں چیختے ہوئے کہتا ہے: مار” دو مجھے، جان سے مار دو
[Translation: “These scenes are not from Indian-occupied Kashmir but from Azad Kashmir, and the force visible in them is not Indian but Pakistani.
In the video, a Kashmiri man, in a state of utter helplessness, screams: “Kill me—kill me dead.”]
Kashmir unrest
Ahead of the general elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, also known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), that were boycotted by the opposition parties, the region erupted in severe unrest and deadly clashes.
The elections were originally scheduled to take place in one round on 27 July but later divided into three phases owing to security concerns. The successive polls were nonetheless marred by sporadic instances of violence. The second round was completed on 2 August. However, on the day of the third round, on 10 August, seven out of 11 constituencies faced a delay for which a new date hasn’t been announced yet.
Security forces imposed a significant crackdown on the protests, led by the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), that were sparked by long-held political and economic grievances.
The JAAC has alleged that at least 31 of its protesters have been killed and 400 injured amid the clashes, Arab News reported. Umar Nazir Kashmiri, a core member of the group, accused the government of opening “fire on unarmed demonstrators” as they marched toward Muzaffarabad, it added.
Since the beginning of the unrest in June, “more than 45 people have been killed and hundreds injured”, according to Al Jazeera.
Read our background on the clashes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir here.
A 29 July report by Dawn quoted AJK Police spokesperson, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Riaz Mughal, as saying, “In 2026 only, 26 of our personnel were martyred, while 157 were seriously injured, and 629 faced minor injuries.” JAAC had snipers amongst them and that almost 70% of the protesters were “criminals”, he alleged.
Rights organisations like Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) reported heavy use of lethal force against demonstrators, alongside communication and Internet blackouts across major areas, such as Mirpur and Rawalakot.
On 2 August, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s External Publicity (EP) Wing issued “Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines, 2026.”
The guidelines require “all foreign or international print, electronic, and digital media, including social media & web based platforms”, to register themselves with the EP Wing and obtain a no-objection “official assignment especially for the work outside Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi”. The ministry said the accreditation may be suspended or cancelled if it “acts against the ideology, sovereignty, security, or public order of Pakistan”, among other reasons.
See a report by Soch Fact Check’s sister organisation, Soch Videos, on the new guidelines here.
The same day, the ministry posted an advisory on X (formerly Twitter), saying Al Jazeera engaged in “selective reporting” and “yellow journalism” and that it “sought to misrepresent the AJK elections and the voting process”. It added that the international media outlet’s news stories “confirm(ed) the agenda of external actors with vested interests”.
Al Jazeera’s website is now inaccessible in Pakistan; however, its social media channels can be viewed without any issues.
Amnesty also urged the Pakistani government to “lift communications blackout” and “allow media and independent observers into the area” in order to conduct an “independent verification of the full extent of the situation on the ground”.
The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called for “prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all deaths that have occurred due to the unrest, both amongst protesters and members of security forces”, according to spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.
The BBC said there was an atmosphere of fear among the population and that the vehicles and property of the candidates contesting the AJK elections “have been set on fire, while some candidates were subjected to violence”, while attributing the blame to the JAAC.
On the other hand, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar accused India of providing “funds and instructions” for the protests, The Guardian reported.
According to The Express Tribune, the federal and AJK governments have claimed that militants — especially “Fitna al-Khawarij” — have infiltrated the demonstrations in the region, that weapons were recovered from protesters, and that “they had opened fire on security forces”.
“Fitna al-Khawarij” is a term the government uses to refer to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban.
Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry spoke alongside Tarar during the 28 July press conference, saying that those participating in the demonstrations would not be considered “protesters but rioters” and urging citizens to stay away and safe from the government crackdown.
Chaudhry also promised “ all-out support to [the] AJK government for maintaining peace and order”, according to the state-run Radio Pakistan.
On 30 July, the AJK Assembly adopted a formal resolution calling for the immediate establishment of an independent, impartial Truth Commission to “investigate the recent unrest, examine all deaths, injuries and property losses, and recommend relief and reforms”.
On 17 August, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah claimed that PML-N secured a two-thirds majority after winning 25 seats during the three phases of the elections. During the presser, Sanaullah stated that his party will form the next government in AJK.
On the other hand, PPP, who won 12 seats, accused PML-N of rigging the elections throughout the polling.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first conducted a reverse-image search to trace the original source of the video. It led to several other Facebook links making a claim similar to the one under investigation.
However, two accounts shared the video on 19 June i.e before the elections in AJK on 27 July. Both claimed that it shows police in Punjab conducting an operation against electricity theft in Nishter Colony, and criticised the officer beating a suspect. There was no mention of the video being from Kashmir.
Left: Video under investigation posted on 29 July 2026 claiming to show Kashmir, Right: Video posted on 19 June with the caption claiming it is from Nishter Colony, Lahore.
To verify whether the video is from Lahore, Soch Fact Check noted that the officers in the video being fact-checked are wearing a brown-colored uniform which matches the attire of Punjab Police personnel, according to pictures posted on their website. On the other hand, pictures available on AJK police’s website shows that they wear a black-colored uniform.
Top: Picture available in Punjab Police’s website gallery, Bottom: Picture available in AJK police’s website gallery.
Then, to confirm the location in the video, Soch Fact Check reached out to Ahmad Saeed, a reporter working for Voicepk.net in Lahore. He pointed out the building of “Al-Rehman Science School & Academy” in the background and said that it is situated in Nishter Colony, Lahore. Google Maps also showed the building’s location in the same area of Lahore, not Kashmir.
The school building of Al-Rehman seen in the background of the video under investigation.
Al-Rehman School System located in Nishter Colony, Lahore, according to Google Maps.
Soch Fact Check also contacted a number written on a billboard of a shop visible in the background, and asked the shopkeeper if this video is from Nishtar Colony and old. He confirmed the locality and said the video is old.
The number of a shopkeeper visible in the background.
Seeing that the policemen in the video are wearing the Punjab police official uniform, and not the AJK police’s uniform, the video’s location on Google Maps, and the reporter’s comment, Soch Fact Check concludes the claim is false. The video is not from Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Virality
Soch Fact Check first came across a viral post on Facebook with as many as 2,500 likes and 1,000 shares. It garnered 735 likes and 546 shares via a separate post on the same platform.
The clip was also shared on Instagram where it received 208,000 views.
Soch Fact Check has also debunked other claims linked to the recent unrest in Kashmir.
Conclusion: The video of a police officer beating a man in the street is from Nishter Colony in Lahore, not Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com