Viral Video of Police Station Fire in Bangladesh is Actually from Nepal
Introduction
In early September 2025, a viral Facebook post caused alarm in Bangladesh by claiming that a police station in Dhaka’s Demra area had been set on fire, with dramatic footage showing people “jumping from the roof to save their lives.” The clip spread rapidly across Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social platforms, fueling panic and speculation about escalating unrest in Bangladesh. However, CyberPoe’s investigation reveals that this claim is false. The video does not originate from Bangladesh but from Nepal, where violent youth-led protests rocked the country in September 2025.
The Viral Claim
The narrative surrounding the viral video framed it as fresh unrest within Bangladesh, tying the supposed incident to political instability and targeting the country’s interim government. The video appeared credible to many viewers because of its dramatic visuals and its timing coinciding with sensitive political debates and regional instability. But, as with many cases of misinformation, what made the clip powerful was not its authenticity but its mislabelling
Evidence Behind the Footage
CyberPoe conducted a reverse image search of video frames, which traced the footage back to a TikTok postdated September 9, 2025. The video was explicitly labelled as showing the Banepa Police Station in Nepal. Further OSINT verification using Google Street View confirmed that the building layout, rooftop design, and nearby structures in the viral footage matched perfectly with the Banepa Area Police Station in Kavrepalanchok, Nepal.
Local reporting provided additional confirmation. On the same day, The Kathmandu Post reported that protesters had indeed torched the Banepa Police Station during clashes between youth demonstrators and security forces. This placed the footage firmly in Nepal, not Bangladesh.
Context: Nepal’s Gen Z Protests
The footage stems from Nepal’s so-called Gen Z Movement, which erupted in September 2025 after the government attempted a short-lived ban on social media. While the ban was the immediate spark, the deeper causes were frustration over corruption, lack of economic opportunity, and dissatisfaction with long-standing political elites.
The protests rapidly escalated into violent confrontations across multiple cities, with the Banepa police station fire becoming one of the most symbolic moments of the unrest. According to local reports, at least 73 people died in the clashes, and the crisis ultimately forced veteran Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign. Analysts described it as Nepal’s most significant unrest since the 2008 abolition of the monarchy.
The Disinformation Angle in Bangladesh
So why did this video resurface in Bangladesh? By mislabelling the footage as a fire in Dhaka’s Demra area, disinformation actors attempted to exploit Bangladesh’s fragile political climate and amplify fears of instability. The framing suggested that violence was spreading domestically, creating distrust in the caretaker government of Muhammad Yunus.
This tactic is a textbook example of how disinformation spreads: taking real footage from one location and repurposing it in another context to stoke panic, fuel political narratives, and destabilize public confidence. Unlike fabricated AI deepfakes, such recycled footage is harder for casual viewers to doubt because it depicts real events just not where or when they are claimed to have occurred.
Reality Check
The viral video claiming to show a police station fire in Dhaka’s Demra was traced back to Nepal through open-source verification. Using reverse image search, CyberPoe identified the clip as first appearing on TikTok on September 9, 2025, clearly labeled “Banepa Police Station.” Geolocation analysis confirmed the match, with Google Street View imagery revealing identical architectural features, including the rooftop design, surrounding structures, and shopfronts. Further confirmation came from mainstream Nepali outlets such as Kathmandu Post, which reported that protesters set fire to the Banepa Area Police Station during the height of the Gen Z demonstrations. Local journalists also verified that the blaze was part of the violent unrest that gripped Nepal, not Bangladesh. No credible Bangladeshi media or law enforcement statement ever reported a police station fire in Demra, firmly establishing the footage as miscaptioned propaganda.
Despite the viral claims, no credible media outlet national or international has reported that a police station in Dhaka was set on fire in September 2025. Law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh have issued no such statement either. All available evidence confirms that the viral video originates from Nepal’s Banepa police station fire, which took place on September 9, 2025, during the Gen Z protests.
In short, the video is a mislabelled clip, recycled across South Asian networks to push false narratives of unrest in Bangladesh.
Conclusion
The claim that a police station in Dhaka’s Demra area was set ablaze in September 2025 is false. The viral footage actually shows the Banepa Area Police Station in Nepal, torched during the Gen Z protests. By stripping the footage of its original context and relocating it to Bangladesh, disinformation actors attempted to weaponize genuine events for political impact.
This case highlights the importance of OSINT verification and cross-checking before sharing sensational claims online. At CyberPoe, our mission is to cut through the noise, expose recycled disinformation, and protect public discourse from manipulation.
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