Old image from J&K viral as police brutality in Delhi

An image of three policemen attacking a man in skull cap is being circulated on social media with the claim that it is from Delhi. A Facebook user posted the viral image which received over 180 shares. The accompanying message reads, “दिल्ली पुलिस मुसलमानों से शांति की अपील करते हुए!”

The viral image was also shared by a Twitter user as well.

Fact-check

Alt News performed a keyword search on Google and after rummaging through several results, we found a Facebook post from November 2019 which carried the viral image. This image was watermarked ‘Sofi Ahsan.’

Alt News looked-up Sofi Ahsan on Google and found that a journalist by the same name works for The Indian Express. We reached out to him on Twitter and found that the viral image was clicked by him. Ashan said, “The viral image is not from Delhi. I clicked the picture in Eidgah, Srinagar on October 6, 2014. It was the day of Eid ul Adha. Eidgah area usually witnesses anti-India protests after Eid ul Adha prayers. I saw him [the man seen kicked] return after attending the prayer. I cannot comment on if he was a protestor or why he was attacked.”

Ahsan emailed the viral photo and other photos he clicked that day. The image highlighted in red is the viral image.

After analysing the EXIF data of the images shared by Ahsan, Alt News confirmed that they were clicked on October 6, 2014. The viral image was on clicked 11:05 AM. The EXIF data of the viral image is attached below.

 

Alt News performed another keyword search and found a 2014 article by International Business Times that reported Eid ul Adha was celebrated on October 6 that year in India while Gulf countries celebrated it on October 4.

The social media claim that the viral image is from recent communal riots in Delhi is false.