On November 13, three days after an explosion near Delhi’s Red Fort killed 13 people, the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) arrested a 32-year-old cardiologist from Kanpur, Dr Mohammad Arif, in connection with the incident. Dr Arif was a first-year student in the Doctor of Medicine (Cardiology) program at the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial (GSVM) Medical College.
Following this, several national media channels broadcast an image of the Delhi blast accused doctor while reporting on ATS’s arrest. Among the channels that ran a photo, allegedly of the accused Dr Mohammad Arif in a white medical apron, identifying him as the accused Republic World, News State Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand, Times Now Navbharat, News X, News Nation, ABP MAJHA, Punjab Kesari UP and inextlive.
Besides these, media outlets such as Free Press Journal, TV9 Bharatvarsh, Sudarshan News, Dainik Bhaskar, Bhaskar Digital, OpIndia, Panchjanya, Organiser, Haribhoomi, News18 Hindi, Zee News, TV9 Hindi, Hindustan Samachar, Aaj Tak, Bastar Awaaz, TV India Live, DNA India, WION, Inkhabar, REVOI, mediasaheb and Salar News carried a picture of the same person in their news reports on the arrest of the Delhi blast accused, Dr Mohammad Arif.
OpIndia also shared the same image on its X handle when posting about the arrest.
Some pro-Right X-handles such as @RealBababanaras and @FrontalForce, too, shared the photo, while @Indian__doctor shared a video report by Times Now Navbharat fetauring the same image. We also found some YouTube channels sharing a video and claiming it was an old video of Dr Arif.
Fact Check
Alt News found that media outlets and others had actually misidentified the accused, Dr Mohammad Arif and shared the image of his namesake, who had no connection with the incident.
Dr Arif Mohammed, whose photograph was used by news channels, is a resident of Kerala who reached out to Alt News after seeing his image plastered on national television and digital media outlets claiming he was the one arrested in the Delhi blast case. He told us that the media had mistakenly published his photo in their reports without verifying it. He categorically stated that he had no connection to the incident or any of the individuals involved.
Dr Arif Mohammed A, whose picture was used by the media, is actually a consultant interventional cardiologist in Calicut, Kerala. He is a 2021 graduate of the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
The photo used by the media is from November 15, 2023, when Dr Arif Mohammad A was working as a consultant and an assistant professor at the KMCT Group of Institutions.
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Dr Arif Mohammad A also told Alt News that he contacted several media outlets after his photo was mistakenly published in media reports. Some channels updated their reports or deleted the story, but many are yet to.
News 9 Live and News Nation, while apologising for the error of using the wrong image clarified in a video report that they used an incorrect image in connection with the arrest of Dr Arif, who was detained from Kanpur.
To sum up, several national media channels incorrectly circulated a photo of Dr Arif Mohammed A, a doctor from Calicut, Kerala, as the suspect detained from Kanpur in the Delhi bombings case. Dr Arif Mohammed A works as a consultant interventional cardiologist in Kerala and has no connection to the Delhi bombings or any investigation related to the incident.
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