Claim: A viral video shows Islamabad Police officers marching and chanting slogans in favour of Imran Khan.
Fact: The original video, which surfaced on 21 November 2024, has been overlaid with doctored audio.
On 25 November 2024, Facebook user ‘Khan Pti’ posted (archive) a video showing Islamabad Police officers chanting slogans in favour of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.
‘Khan Pti’ wrote in the accompanying caption, “نوٹ پنگا۔۔۔ [Do not pick a fight…]”.
Officials seen in the video are chanting in Urdu:
“سب کا جگری، سب کا یار، قیدی نمبر 804،
نہ وہ باغی، نہ غدار، قیدی نمبر 804،
نہ وہ باغی، نہ غدار، قیدی نمبر 804!
[Everyone’s best friend, everyone’s companion, prisoner number 804,
Neither a rebel nor a traitor, Prisoner Number 804,
Neither a rebel nor a traitor, Prisoner Number 804!]”
Prisoner Number 804 refers to Imran Khan’s jail identification number (archive), which his supporters have often used on social media and as a slogan during protests.
Khan’s imprisonment
Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a former prime minister, has been incarcerated (archive) since 5 August 2023 over various charges, but he has either been acquitted or secured bail in some; the sentence for one charge has been suspended (archived here, here, here, here, and here, respectively).
Various international and local bodies have criticised the PTI founder’s continued detention. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed concerns (archive) over jail conditions and Amnesty International said (archive) it “found several fair trial violations under international human rights standards”, terming his imprisonment “arbitrary detention”. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has said in an opinion (archive) that Khan’s detention is “arbitrary and in violation of international law”, according to a report (archive).
PTI protest in Islamabad
The ex-premier called on his supporters to converge for a protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk, a famous location for demonstrations, on 24 November 2024, with PTI leaders and thousands of the party’s supporters mobilising right away from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and parts of Punjab towards the capital.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued (archive) stern warnings against entering D-Chowk — which comes in the sensitive Red Zone — while police and law enforcement agencies deployed aggressive crowd control tactics. Pakistan Army troops were deployed (archive) across the capital, especially as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is in the country for talks (archive) with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Read more: PTI’s Sher Afzal Marwat has not been arrested, yet
Internet blackouts were reported (archive) in the city and containers set up to block the protesters’ routes.
Police also allegedly fired (archive) rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters attempting to enter the area. According to reports, at least six people have died (archive) during the confrontations. Some journalists also spoke (archive) of how those participating in the demonstrations attacked them and their offices.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first observed that the chants are not in sync with what the Islamabad Police officers appear to be saying.
We spoke to Shaur Azher, a lecturer at the Karachi University (KU) and Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) and an audio engineer at Soch Videos, our sister company, who specialises in sound design and mixing and mastering audio
He noted that the audio appears to be “completely fabricated”. Explaining his analysis, he said, “First and foremost, the lip-sync in the video is entirely mismatched. The audio being heard — sounding like a group of 10 to 15 people — does not correspond to the visuals of over 50 police officers visible in the footage. This discrepancy alone raises serious doubts about the authenticity of the video.”
Using reverse image search tools, we were able to trace the video to 21 November 2024 when it was posted by two Pakistani media outlets, which described the event as a march by Islamabad Police who chanted “slogans in support of law enforcement and unity within the force”.
We shared these two posts with Azher, who then performed a comparative analysis. He said, “The comparison revealed that the visuals were taken from this original clip but had been manipulated to overlay the fake audio.
“The manipulation is evident not only in the mismatched audio and visuals but also in the unnatural acoustics of the chant. The sound lacks the spatial dynamics you would expect from a group of over 50 people in an open environment — it feels isolated, forced, and poorly integrated with the scene,” he added.
Moreover, we were able to locate the original video (archive) posted on the X (formerly Twitter) account of Islamabad Police on 20 November 2024. It shows officers raising the following chants:
“نعرہ تکبیر، اللہ اکبر!
نعرہ رسالت، یا رسول الله!
نعرہ حیدری، یا علی!
آئی جی اسلام آباد، زنده باد!
ڈی جی اسلام آباد، زنده باد!
[Chant the Takbir, Allahu Akbar!
Chant the slogan of Risalat, Ya Rasool Allah!
Chant the Haideri slogan, Ya Ali!
Long live IG Islamabad!
Long live DG Islamabad!]”
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the altered video posted here, here, here, here, and here. Among the most viral clips, we found one (archive), published as a reel, garnered over 2.6 million views, as of writing time.
The video was also posted here on Instagram and here on X.
Conclusion: The original video, which surfaced on 21 November 2024, has been overlaid with a doctored audio.
Background image in cover photo: islamabadpolice
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