“भारतीय फौज पर हमला करने बाला नीकला राहुल गांधी का खास। क्या इस हमले के पीछे कांग्रेस का हाथ तो नहीं (The man who attacked the Indian army was close to Rahul Gandhi. Is the Congress behind the attack? -translated)”, reads the message posted by one Pragnesh Jani on Facebook group Once Again MODIRAJ 2019. The post includes three pictures. In one of the pictures, Congress President Rahul Gandhi can be seen with Pulwama attack suicide bomber, Adil Ahmed Dhar, on his side. Other two images are individual images of Rahul Gandhi and Adil Ahmed Dhar respectively.
This post was first shared by a user Ridhi Pathania which has been shared close to 260 times so far.
Several other individuals on Facebook and Twitter have shared the images with the identical narrative.
A website Odiapost has also published an article based on the morphed pictures suggesting the same.
Photoshopped image
Alt News found that the image which shows Pulwama suicide bomber and Rahul Gandhi is photoshopped. We found the original image posted by the photo wire agency Getty Images.
“Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi after paying obeisance at the dargah of renowned sufi saint Haji Waris Ali Shah on February 28, 2014 in Barabanki, India. Rahul Gandhi formally kicked off his partys campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with a road show.”, reads the caption of the image clicked on February 28, 2014. The man standing next to Rahul Gandhi has not been identified by the photo agency. However, he is not the Pulwama suicide bomber. He is in fact Jitin Prasada, a Former Minister of State in the UPA Government.
In another image posted by the official handle of Indian National Congress, the same unidentified person can be seen next to Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi at the Dargah of Haji Waris Ali Shah, Deva Sharif, Barabanki
yesterday #RGinUP pic.twitter.com/DuW4RzuhWs— Congress (@INCIndia) March 1, 2014
In conclusion, an old photograph of Rahul Gandhi was photoshopped to suggest that the Pulwama suicide bomber was close to him, and that the Congress party could have a hand in the horrific terror attack.
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