“उत्तराखंड में खाई में गिर रही बस को रोक कर इस हाथी ने लोगो की जान बचाई जय गणेशा” (This elephant has saved lives of people by stopping a bus from rolling into a trench in Uttarakhand. Jai Ganesha -translated). An image of an elephant pushing a bus was shared with the aforementioned claim on October 16 by the Facebook page, I Support Ajit Doval.

Posted by I Support Doval on Monday, 15 October 2018

An individual user had also shared the same image which has garnered more than 7,600 likes on Facebook.

Debunked seven months ago

Earlier in March this year, this image was shared with a similar claim stating that it is an image of an elephant saving 47 passengers travelling in bus in Jharkhand which was about to fall in a ditch.

झारखण्ड में खाई में गिर रही बस को रोक कर एक हाथी ने बचाई 47 जाने ।
गणपति बाबा के इस अवतार के लिए एक लाइक तो बनता ह बोस।
अगर लीख सकते हो तो कमेन्ट में जरूर लोखे-“गणपति बाबा मोरया”

Posted by JAN JAN TAK on Tuesday, 28 March 2017

Alt News found that the image is neither of a bus falling into a trench nor is it from India. An article published by The Star, a Canadian daily had captioned the same image, “An elephant pushes a stranded bus as it is employed to clear a road in Barishal, 120 kilometers south of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007. (AP PHOTO)“.

credit: Associated Press

Several images having sentimental value are circulated on a regular basis to garner traction on social media. Although innocuous in nature, users are encouraged to cross-check any such image before sharing it on social media.

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About the Author

Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.