A photograph of a bloodied policeman is making the rounds on social media with the claim that he is Tukaram Omble of Mumbai police who was martyred in the 26/11 terror attacks. From the Facebook page Narendra Modi for 2024 PM (@Namo2019PM), the post has received 15,000 likes and over 1,300 shares as of this writing. The text shared on the image reads, “Even after being shot 23 times, he caught terrorist Kasab alive. The countrymen salute a solider like Tukaram. (23 गोली खाने के बावजूद आतंकवादी कसाब को जिंदा पकड़ा था, ऐसे सिपाही तुकाराम को देशवासी नमन करते हैं।)”
The post was shared by several other Facebook pages (हम हैं हिंदुस्तानी) and users (Arun Kumar Pandey).
Viral last year on the anniversary of 26/11
A similar claim was viral last year on the 11th anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, “Let’s take a moment to remember the hero of 26/11! He took over 40 rounds from the AK47 of Ajmal Kasab, but captured him alive. We salute you, Sri Tukaram Omble Ji! #MumbaiTerrorAttack,” tweeted BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje sharing purported images of the police officer.
Let’s take a moment to remember the hero of 26/11!
He took over 40 rounds from the AK47 of Ajmal Kasab, but captured him alive.
We salute you, Sri Tukaram Omble Ji!#MumbaiTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/7G8l58drQS
— Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) November 26, 2019
A similar tweet was made by the founder of fake news portal Postcard News Mahesh Vikram Hegde, who had tweeted the same in 2018.
The hero of 26/11
Even are being hit with 23 bullets, he captured Terrorist Kasab
A salute to this warrior Tukaram Omble #MumbaiTerrorAttack pic.twitter.com/K05JuquRg6
— Mahesh Vikram Hegde (@mvmeet) November 26, 2019
Many other individuals, BJP social media members and handles tweeted the set of photos.
Fact-check
While the image on the right is indeed of Tukaram Omble, the one on the left is a movie still. The film is called ‘The Attacks of 26/11’ and was released in 2013.
Incidentally, the still was also used in a report on 26/11 by Patrika in 2018 with no mention that it is from a movie. This scene can be viewed at approximately 3:58 minutes into the video posted above.
Catch News had also used the image in 2018.
A movie still was thus shared as a photograph of 26/11 martyr Tukaram Omble by the media, members of the ruling party and several individuals on social media.
[Update: Tukaram Omble’s name was misspelt in this article. The same has been rectified. Similar claims viral in 2020 were added to the report on August 21, 2020.]