Old image from UP shared to portray police complicity in Jahangirpuri violence

by Nilofar Absar

Following the communal violence that recently took place in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, an image is being widely shared on social media. The image depicts a squad of police personnel flanked by two men in casual clothes wearing saffron masks to cover their faces. One of the men can be seen carrying what appears to be a stick.

The image is viral with the insinuation that the men seen with the police personnel are Hindutva goons carrying swords to offer protection to Delhi police.

Fact-check

We performed a reverse image search on Yandex and found tweets dating back to 2020, sharing the viral image.

Amongst these tweets, we found one by a user named Saba Khan stating that the image is from UP’s Badaun district.

Upon going through her Twitter profile, we also came across a video capturing the same incident where cops can be seen walking through the narrow alleyway. The men wearing saffron scarves can be spotted as well.

Another Twitter user Raqim Qadri commented on Saba Khan’s tweet that the video is from Badaun. We rummaged Raqim Qadri’s Twitter profile and found a tweet stating that the video is from the Jalandhari Sarai area in Badaun.

Beneath this tweet, we found a comment from Budaun police’s official Twitter handle confirming that the two men in the viral image are “COVID warriors” assisting the police personnel by urging locals to stay at home and download the Arogya Setu app. The two men in the viral image have been identified as Mukesh Kumar and Sunil Gurjar.

Thus, an old image from 2020 is being shared with a false claim linking it to the communal violence that recently took place in Jahangirpuri, New Delhi.

Donate to Alt News!
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.

Donate Now

About the Author

Nilofar Absar is a lawyer by training and a storyteller by nature who takes a keen interest in the lives of people belonging to South Asian diasporic communities.