No, this image doesn’t show Dawood Ibrahim with Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate

An image of Dawood Ibrahim apparently with the Indian National Congress’ National Spokesperson, Supriya Shrinate, is viral on social media. User @ppagarwal tweeted the image and wrote “ये कौंन है @SupriyaShrinate जी बताओ जरा” (Translation: Who is this @SupriyaShrinate please tell us). His tweet garnered over 1300 likes and close to 600 retweets. (Archive)

ये कौंन है @SupriyaShrinate जी बताओ जरा pic.twitter.com/lFeyZpWZbh

— 🅿️uran🅰️garwal रिटर्न्स (@ppagarwal) June 15, 2023

The verified account of Swami Ramsarnacharya Pandey tweeted this image and asked, “Who is this girl with India’s most wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and why this woman has close relations with this don?”. He tagged several accounts in his tweet, including that of Supriya Shrinate and the Indian National Congress, implying that Supriya is the one seen in the image. (Archive)

भारत का मोस्टवांटेड अंडरवर्ल्ड डॉन दाऊद इब्राहिम के साथ यह लड़की कौन है और इस डाॅन के साथ इस महिला के घनिष्ठ संबंध क्यों हैं ???? @SupriyaShrinate @INCIndia @INCMP @OfficeOfKNath @INCChhattisgarh @INCRajasthan @BJP4India pic.twitter.com/4oq15oiWgL

— Swami Ramsarnacharya Pandey, मेलकोटे पीठाधीश्वर (@SwamiRamsarnac4) June 15, 2023

Several users tweeted the image with the same claim. (Archives- 1, 2, 3, 4)

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

Fact Check

We found that the woman seen in the image is journalist Sheela Bhatt and not Supriya Shrinate. Bhatt had originally tweeted this image on June 14, while taking part in the ‘Drop a photo of you doing your job’ trend on Twitter. In the caption, Bhatt wrote ‘Interviewing Dawood Ibrahim in Pearl Building, Dubai. 1987’.

Drop a photo of you doing your job.@nistula @Vasudha156 @MathewLiz @bhartijainTOI @_pallavighosh @NEETAS11 @OlgaTellis @mehtahansal @Shussainzaidi @tallstories @sandhyadwivedi1
Interviewing Dawood Ibrahim in Pearl Building, Dubai. 1987. pic.twitter.com/gAxxp8iW2I

— Sheela Bhatt शीला भट्ट (@sheela2010) June 14, 2023

In a subsequent tweet, Bhatt also confirmed that her interview with Dawood Ibrahim was carried by the magazines- Abhiyaan and The Illustrated Weekly. She wrote, “….Both (magazines) carried my interview of Dawood Ibrahim in 1987. Weekly’s cover story was written by distinguished journalist Amrita Shah. My interview ran along with her cover story. All Dawood pics were taken by me.”

Flooded with queries if this is fake pic or real. Just to put record straight posting two cover pages 1) Abhiyaan, the weekly founded by me and my late husband Kanti Bhatt and 2) The Illustrated Weekly. Both carried my interview of Dawood Ibrahim in 1987. Weekly’s cover story was… pic.twitter.com/su7IrqGSeL

— Sheela Bhatt शीला भट्ट (@sheela2010) June 17, 2023

Refuting the viral claim that the woman in the image is her, Supriya Shrinate told Alt News “My Date of Birth is 27.10.1977. So yeah, at the age of 10 I wasn’t sitting and interviewing Dawood”.

Hence, an image of Dawood Ibrahim with journalist, Sheela Bhatt, is being falsely shared with the claim that it shows him with Congress spokesperson, Supriya Shrinate.