Fact-check: Viral video claiming seizure of arms, ammunition from militants in Manipur is misleading
A video showing a large cache of arms, ammunition and cash laid out on the ground has been circulating on social media, with claims that the haul was recovered by the Indian Army during a raid against militants in Manipur. However, a fact-check by Alt News has found these claims to be false.
The video was widely shared on X by several users. One such post by an account named @TIgerNS3 on June 10 claimed that the Indian armed forces had recovered “big stocks of guns, arms and ammunition with huge money from anti-liberation social elements of Manipur”, tagging the alleged militants as “Kuki terrorists”. Another user, Jitendra Pratap Singh (@jpsin1), shared the same video earlier with a caption suggesting that it showed a major arms recovery by the Indian Army in Manipur.
Alt News, while verifying the video, noted a crucial visual detail. The men seen in camouflage uniforms in the clip were wearing insignia marked “BNRA”. BNRA stands for the Burma National Revolutionary Army, a relatively new armed group in Myanmar that was formed on September 9, 2023. Alt News compared the insignia visible in the viral video with images posted on the official Facebook page of the BNRA and found them to be identical, confirming that the armed men in the video belong to the Myanmar-based group.
Further examination of the video revealed the presence of a flag with blue, red and green colours and a white circle at its centre. A reverse image search identified this as the flag of the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF), the armed wing of the Chin National Organisation, a rebel group operating in Myanmar’s Chin State, which borders India’s Manipur.
Alt News also traced the origin of the video through reverse image searches of its keyframes. This led to a Facebook post dated April 24, where the same video was shared with a caption written in the Mizo language. The caption roughly translates to a claim that a group referred to as the “CB group”, likely the Chin Brotherhood, had defeated forces in Falam village and seized weapons and money.
Digging deeper, Alt News found that the video had earlier been published by Myanmar-based media outlet Khit Thit Media on April 10. According to the Burmese-language caption accompanying the clip, the video showed weapons and ammunition seized after the capture of Falam township in Chin State on April 9 during fighting against Myanmar’s military council. Several other Myanmar-based news outlets had also reported on the same development.
Based on these findings, Alt News concluded that the viral video has no connection to Manipur or any operation by the Indian Army. The footage is from Myanmar and depicts arms seized by rebel groups during clashes in Chin State. Claims circulating on social media linking the video to militant raids in Manipur are false and misleading.
🚨 BIG BREAKING NEWS:
— TIger NS (@TIgerNS3) June 9, 2025
Armed forces Raid reveals In Manipur that Army has recovered a big stocks of guns, arms and amunication with huge money from anti libration social elements of Manipur. #kuki terrorist #kukiTerrorists मणिपुर#Manipur #ManipurViolence pic.twitter.com/Ai3acEM09f
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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses EC of ‘bias’, defends state guarantee schemes ahead of bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the EC of "double standards" and "bias" after it sought details on the state’s guarantee schemes in Davanagere and Bagalkot districts, where bypolls are scheduled for Thursday.
In a post on 'X' on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said the Election Commission of India had asked the Karnataka government for information on fund releases under five ongoing guarantee schemes in the constituencies going to polls.
The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, respectively.
The schemes are Gruha Jyothi, which provides 200 units of free electricity to every household; Gruha Lakshmi, offering Rs 2,000 to women heading families; and Anna Bhagya, supplying 10 kg of rice per month to each member of BPL families.
In addition, Yuva Nidhi grants Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders aged 18–25 for two years, while Shakti enables women to travel free of charge within Karnataka on government non-luxury buses.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the ECI had remained silent when similar cash transfer schemes were announced in Maharashtra and Bihar ahead of elections, calling the scrutiny of Karnataka’s schemes a "clear case of bias".
"In states like Maharashtra and Bihar, cash transfer schemes were announced or fast-tracked just before elections, directly benefiting voters. Yet the ECI remained silent. This is not neutrality—it is complicity," he said.
The CM accused the BJP and NDA governments of "a double standard", noting that when they act, the ECI "looks the other way", but when Karnataka fulfils its promises, it faces "intense scrutiny".
He added that targeting the state’s guarantee schemes is "not just political but anti-poor, anti-women, and anti-Karnataka."
Siddaramaiah clarified that these schemes were not launched in connection with the bypolls but are ongoing programmes implemented as part of the Congress government’s commitments from the 2023 Assembly elections.
Funds are transferred regularly to beneficiaries in a transparent and structured manner, he added.
"The guarantees are part of governance—a direct investment in human dignity, household stability, and economic participation, not inducement," he said.
He also accused the BJP of "hypocrisy", saying that while it criticises Karnataka’s schemes as "freebies", it rolls out similar programmes in states it governs.
"The Karnataka model has set a benchmark for the country. What is deeply concerning, however, is the ECI’s selective approach," Siddaramaiah added.
