A collage of 24 men, allegedly arrested on charges of looting people’s houses on the pretext of selling clothes and garments, is viral on WhatsApp. Along with the image, a message is also being circulated that calls the men, supposedly from Bidar and Gulbarga in Karnataka, ‘Muslim Jihadis,’ and warns people against falling into their trap.
The translated message, in its entirety, reads: “All city residents must be careful. A gang of people selling ladies’ suits, warm blankets, bed sheets and other clothes has come to the streets. These are Muslim Jihadis from Bidar and Gulbarga. By impersonating clothes-sellers in the daytime, they scout neighbourhoods and colonies. When the time is opportune, they break into houses and carry out looting. That is why all residents should be cautious, and share this message among their known ones.’ The message was signed off by ‘police authorities’.
Several users on X, including @BharatK43023534, @YadavTantrick, @rclcpa4, @sha33274 and others also shared this collage of ‘Jihadi’ gang members, urging people to be on the lookout for suspicious figures. (Archived links: 1, 2, 3, 4)
Fact Check
A reverse image search of the collage led us to this article by DaijiWorld, published on July 29, 2019.
According to this, Mangalore’s Bajpe police had issued an alert regarding a dreaded ‘Irani’ gang, which was active in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru and surrounding districts. Members of the gang reportedly used to loot people’s homes by pretending to be blanket-sellers.
Police in Bengaluru, Mandya and Udupi had also issued similar alerts against the gang pretending to be blanket sellers. All these reports are from July 2019.
A report by Vijay Karnataka, quoting Udupi superintendent of police, said that no incidents by such gangs were reported in the area; the warning was only a precautionary measure. Advising people to be cautious about any sellers near their homes, the SP warned people not to invite such sellers or strangers inside their home or share any information about neighbours with them. She further said that people should alert the police in case of suspicious activities.
Readers must note that this poster and message have gone viral before with similar claims.
According to a report by The Hindu from January 2025, some members of this gang were arrested in Bengaluru.
To sum up, the collage of images dates back to 2019 when police in several Karnataka districts had issued warnings against the gang posing as blanket-sellers. The message being circulated now with the images is misleading.
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