Against the backdrop of the recent violence in Ladakh and the subsequent arrest of activist Sonam Wangchuk, two videos — one of Ladakh ADGP S D Singh Jamwal and one of Leh ADC Ghulam Muhammad — are viral, in both of which it is apparently claimed that Wangchuk was arrested on direct instructions from the Union government.
While the additional director general of police (ADGP) ‘claims’ that Wangchuk was arrested without any evidence as per orders from the Union defence minister, the additional deputy commissioner (ADC) ‘states’ that the directions had come from the Union ministry of home affairs.
The Leh region witnessed unprecedented violence on September 24 as youth torched the regional office of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Later in the day, the Union home ministry issued a statement ‘blaming’ climate activist Sonam Wangchuk for the unrest, alleging he had incited the mob by making provocative statements by mentioning the Arab Spring-style protest and the recent GenZ protests in Nepal.
In addition to setting fire to the BJP’s local office, the protestors also allegedly torched a police vehicle, injuring at least 30 police personnel. In retaliation, the police fired bullets and tear gas, which reportedly resulted in the death of four people and the injury of dozens. “In self-defence, police had to resort to firing in which unfortunately some casualties are reported,” the home ministry statement said. Sonam Wangchuk was arrested on September 26 by Leh police.
The Ladakh ADGP Video
In the viral video, the ADGP can be heard saying, “We know that the people of Ladakh have not been given their rights. We did not find any evidence against Sonam Wangchuk. And all of this incident happened because of the Indian defence minister, which is why we had to do it. We apologise to the people of Kashmir”.
Several other accounts tweeted the same video with the same claim.
Fact Check
At first glance, the DGP’s lip movements seem abnormal and his voice sounds unnatural or even robotic.
We noticed that the viral videos contained The New Indian Express logo. We were able to locate the original video on TNIE’s YouTube page.
The nine-minute video, titled “Ladakh DGP explains reason for Wangchuk’s arrest, defends police firing at protestors”, features Singh accusing Wangchuk of inciting the protesters and portraying him as the key figure behind the violence. He further claimed that a prob was on into Wangchuk’s alleged links to Pakistan.
He never mentions the defence minister. Nor does he apologize.
Thus, it can conclusively stated that the viral video has been manipulated through AI.
The claim has also been debunked by the Press Information Bureau, which called the video a deepfake.
🚨 DEEPFAKE VIDEO ALERT!
A digitally altered video of Director General of Police (DGP) Ladakh Dr. S.D Singh is circulating on social media, in which he is making claims that Sonam Wangchuk was arrested on the directions of the Indian Defence Minister without any evidence.… pic.twitter.com/vWeihURcP8
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) September 30, 2025
The Leh ADC Video
This viral video purportedly shows Leh additional deputy commissioner Ghulam Muhammad claiming that Union home minister Amit Shah’s office had instructed officials to frame activist Sonam Wangchuk as a “Pakistani agent.” In the clip, the ADC is seemingly heard saying:
“As you all know, the unfortunate incident that took place yesterday in Leh… Twenty people were critically injured. I appeal to the people of Ladakh— we were ordered by the home ministry to arrest Sonam Wangchuk. We were directed by Amit Shah’s office to accuse him of being a Pakistani agent…”
The official X handle of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee shared the video ‘asking’ Amit shah why he was “troubling the peace-loving activists” and “labeling them as traitors”.
अमित शाह जी, हे खरं आहे का ? शांतता प्रिय आंदोलनकर्त्यांना एवढा त्रास कशाबद्दल देत आहात? तुमच्या गोदी मीडिया च्या सहाय्याने त्यांना देशद्रोही लेबल का लावत आहात?
.
.@INCIndia @RahulGandhi @INCHarshsapkal @AmitShah #आंदोलन #गोदीमीडिया #देशद्रोही pic.twitter.com/4Ndw4S8Zvu— Maharashtra Congress (@INCMaharashtra) October 4, 2025
Several X users amplified the viral video with the same claim. Among them was lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan, who later deleted it.
Fact Check
Just as in the previous video, we noticed that ADC Ghulam Mohammed’s voice sounded robotic and unnaturally uniform.
Digging deeper, we were able to locate the original video uploaded on Facebook on September 25.
Press Briefing by Additional Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Sh. Ghulam Mohd. (JKAS), along with Additional Superintendent of Police, Leh Sh. Regzin Sangdup (JKPS)
Posted by Department of Information & Public Relations, Leh, Ladakh on Thursday 25 September 2025
In the 2-minute video, the ADC does not speak about Sonam Wangchuk. In fact, the original video pre-dates the arrest of Wangchuk, which happened on September 26. In this video, he only talks about the number of casualties that occurred on the day of the protest and the number of people admitted to hospitals. He also urged citizens to be wary of the conditions in Ladakh.
Hence it can be conclusively stated that this video, too, has been digitally manipulated.
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