AI generated image viral with false claim of terrorist Ayub Khan arrested from Kumbh Mela

A picture is going viral on social media in which a monk has a rope tied to his hand with two policemen are restraining him from both sides. All of them are seemingly standing in knee-deep water. The image is being shared with the claim that a terrorist named Ayub Khan, who was disguised as a sadhu, entered the Maha Kumbh Mela and was subsequently arrested.

An X user shared the picture and claimed that it showed terrorist Ayub Khan who had come to the Kumbh Mela disguised as a sadhu to commit a major crime. (Archived link)

Alt News also received a request related to this picture on its WhatsApp helpline.

This picture is also viral on Facebook with the same claim.

Fact Check

When we performed a keyword search using terms related to Ayub Khan, we found a report by Dainik Bhaskar. It states that on January 14, police arrested a youth named Ayub Ali, a resident of Aliganj in Etah, from outside the camp of Mahant Yati Narsinghanand Giri of Dasna temple at the Maha Kumbh. According to the report, he had mentioned his name to be Ayush, but when the police questioned him, it was revealed that his name was Ayub Ali and his father’s name as Shakir Ali. The youth said that he had come there for a walk. The Dainik Bhaskar report contains a picture of the arrested youth which does not match the viral picture at all.

The SP of Etah, while issuing a statement on this matter, said that after receiving the information, Aliganj police reached Ayub’s house for questioning. Neighbours said that he was mentally retarded and a drug addict. They revealed that he used to work in a band and went from house to house begging for food. SP Rajkumar Singh stated that Ayub Ali had no criminal record. His family lived in Jaipur and he kept roaming around. 

Kumbh Mela SSP Rajesh Dwivedi told BoomLive that no terrorist named Ayub had been caught in the guise of a sadhu in the Maha Kumbh. He added that after questioning Ayub Ali who was taken into custody, the police found nothing suspicious and released him.

Viral Image is AI Generated

When we performed a reverse image search of the viral picture, we found videos uploaded by many users on social media in which this photo has been used. Looking at this video, it is clear that the viral picture has been created with the help of artificial intelligence. 

There are a lot of other elements in the viral picture which made us question its authenticity. The way the policemen are shown to hold the person is one of them. Besides, one of the cops have his weapon pointed towards the person, which is against basic firearm safety standards. Apart from this, the policeman’s finger is on the trigger, which does not match these circumstances. In general, the police are also forbidden to keep a finger on the trigger until they have made up their mind to fire. In addition, this type of practice does not seem to be standard protocol at such a religious event and crowded place.

We also checked the picture on the AI detection tool Hivemoderation. The tool indicates a 97.3% probability of the image being AI generated.

To sum up, several social media users exaggerated the news of the arrest of mentally deranged youth Ayub Ali and declared him a terrorist. They shared a picture created with the help of artificial intelligence and claimed that police arrested terrorist Ayub Khan had planned a major crime at the Kumbh Mela, disguised as a monk.