A video of Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, purportedly wanting to 'hang cockroaches', referring to Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protesters is being widely shared on social media.What does he say?: In the video, Goyal can be heard saying,"It is my clear belief that we should publicly hang two or three cockroaches. So that this Cockroach Janata Party realises the reality of what our power is and to what extent we can go. When these people see two or three of their cockroaches hanging like this, all their ruckus will be pacified, and they will end their protest themselves and run away with their tails between their legs. My direct advice to Modi ji is that without any hesitation, he should do exactly what he did in Gujarat. This is now the only way left to deal with these miscreants."An archived version of this post can be seen here.(Archived versions of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, and here.)Is it true?: No, the claim is false as the video is a deepfake.Does This Video Show People Carrying a Leopard at CJP Protest in Bihar? No!How did we find out the truth?: We ran a reverse image search on the clip, which led us to an X post by news agency PTI, which showed visuals resembling the viral claim.In this video, Goyal spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to set up fast-track courts for paper leaks, promising the "strictest possible action" against those responsible.He then requested the Opposition to discuss the issue and not politicise it, encouraging dialogue instead of running away.VIDEO | On PM Modi's X post, Union Minister Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) says, "Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that the strictest possible action will be taken against those responsible. Fast-track courts will be set up to ensure swift and stringent punishment… pic.twitter.com/WBn6qYMArz— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 23, 2026News organisations ANI and DD News also shared similar visuals, where Goyal spoke about the decisions taken by the Prime Minister and the NEET paper leak issue.None of the visuals or reports shared showed Goyal mentioning the CJP by name, or calling for any kind of action against protesters.Is it AI?: We ran a check using Hiya's Deepfake Voice Detector, which gave the audio an authenticity score of seven out of 100, noting that the voice was "likely a deepfake."The audio is a deepfake.A similar check on Hive Moderation's AI-generated content detection tool showed that the tool gave the video a 68.6 percent likelihood of containing AI-generated audio.Hive gave it a lower score.Goyal, PIB clarify: Goyal took to X to categorically state that his remarks were "maliciously doctored using AI to create and circulate a deepfake video in an attempt to spread misinformation," and that he had filed an FIR regarding the video.Goyal clarified that the video was altered.The Press Information Bureau's (PIB) fact-checking wing, too, stated that the video was fake and AI-generated.⚠️ Fake Video Alert! Pakistani propaganda accounts are circulating a video of Union Minister Piyush Goyal claiming that he made threatening remarks about the protesting students. #PIBFactCheck: ❌This video is #Fake and AI-generated. ✅ Union Minister @piyushgoyal did… pic.twitter.com/lowN3RxaHl— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) July 24, 2026Conclusion: A deepfake of Goyal is being shared to falsely claim that he wanted a few of the protesters hanged.WebQoof Recap: Of Claims Surrounding the CJP Protests and the Delhi Police(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)