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India Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Fact Check: Old videos from Maharashtra and Northeast VIRAL as Rahul Gandhi's Voter Adhikar Yatra
Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has embarked on his Voter Adhikar Yatra, a 16-day, 1,300-kilometre march across poll-bound Bihar, protesting against the Election Commission's Special Intensive multiple videos have gone viral on social media claiming to show the march. But, India Today Fact Check found that none of the videos are related to the Voter Adhikar VIDEO Many Facebook and X users shared this video of a huge gathering, with captions like: 'A tsunami of people have gathered in Bihar for the rally of INDIA alliance leader and LoP Rahul Gandhi. You couldn't find an inch of empty space at the venue of the rally.'But we found that this video from June has nothing to do with Rahul Gandhi's march. The video is from Maharashtra's Pedgaon village, where a crowd gathered for an annual bullock cart race. A detailed report about it can be read VIDEOAnother video showing Rahul Gandhi addressing people from atop a vehicle is going viral with the claim that when the police attempted to stop the Voter Adhikar Yatra, the LoP climbed on top of a bus and addressed his this video is from a Rahul Gandhi rally, it has nothing to do with the Voter Adhikar Yara. It's from January 2024 and shows the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra at the Assam-Meghalaya border. A detailed report can be read VIDEOA video showing a large gathering of people on a street is also viral, with the claim that it is from Rahul Gandhi's Bihar Google Lens, we found that it is from the annual procession of Shri Sant Gajanan Maharaj held in Maharashtra's Shegaon. As per The Times of India, the event is a pilgrimage that spans 1,275km over two months - 725km to Pandharpur and 550km on the return journey to Shegaon. The viral video is from July 31, when the procession was returning to Shegaon. A detailed report about this can be read here.- EndsTrending Reel Want to send us something for verification? Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000 You can also send us an email at factcheck@
India Today
3 days ago
- India Today
Fact Check: This video does NOT show cab mafia forcing passengers in front of TN police
A video allegedly showing a Tamil Nadu cab driver forcing passengers into his vehicle at an airport, in the presence of the police, is going viral on social media right now. People shared the video, condemning the Tamil Nadu government. Sharing the clip on Facebook, one person wrote, 'WTF is happening in TN. This is TN ruled by DMK. Look how cab mafias are forcing passengers into cars, and the police act as agents at airports. Look how the cab drivers are forcefully holding women and dragging them into cabs at airports. Safety '0' Respect for women '0'. Mafia rule 100% This is Periyar Model?'advertisement India Today Fact Check, however, found that the video does not show cab drivers forcing passengers. It shows a personal conflict taking place at the Coimbatore airport on March ProbeReverse searching keyframes from the viral video led us to a post about the incident dated March 27. According to it, a woman caused a stir at the Coimbatore airport after seeing her husband with another woman there.' '... : #covai #airport Indian Express Tamil (@IeTamil) March 27, 2025We then found multiple news reports about the incident. According to them, this incident took place on the evening of March 26, when a flight from Chennai landed in Coimbatore. Two passengers, a man and a woman, who disembarked from the flight, were then confronted by another woman. This woman alleged that the man was her reportedly hurled abuse at the man for cheating on her. A relative of the man, also present at the airport, grabbed the woman's hand and tried to stop her. The woman, however, slapped the relative and got into an argument with him as well. A security guard on duty at the airport also tried to resolve the reports, the woman had met the man through Instagram. They had tied the knot, but did not register their marriage. Later, the man officially married someone else, without revealing his first Tamil Nadu government's fact-checking unit also debunked the video on X, stating that the viral clip did not show a taxi driver forcing passengers at an airport in Tamil Nadu, and that it showed a personal dispute between a being spread that a taxi driver misbehaved with a woman at Tamil Nadu video actually shows a personal dispute in which a woman confronted her unfaithful lover at Coimbatore airport in March. It is being misrepresented online with the false claim that taxi TN Fact Check (@tn_factcheck) August 16, 2025While there have been a few incidents in Tamil Nadu this year when cab drivers got into arguments with passengers, the viral clip has nothing to do with it.- EndsMust Watch Want to send us something for verification? Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000 You can also send us an email at factcheck@
India Today
06-08-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Fact Check: No Panchayat Polls in J&K yet, FAKE notification goes viral
A notification announcing the schedule for Panchayat Polls in Jammu and Kashmir has gone viral on social media. The document, allegedly from the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, claims that elections will be held after November shared the photo of the document on social media, claiming that the local body polls were going to be held in the Valley after almost eight India Today Fact Check found that this notification is fake. To date, no such announcement has been made by the Chief Electoral Office of Jammu and ProbeLooking closely at the viral notification, we noticed that the word 'facilitate' was incorrectly written as 'pacilitate' in the third point, which is highly unlikely in any government notification. A keyword search to confirm whether any schedule of the Panchayat Polls for Jammu and Kashmir had been announced also yielded no the viral image using Google Lens led us to a post, dated August 5, from the official account of the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, which debunked this notification with the caption: "Fake news alert."India Today Fact Check also reached out to a senior official in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department of Jammu and Kashmir, who confirmed that the State Election Commission is the only competent authority to notify a schedule for Panchayat elections. He added that no such timeline had been officially announced yet. He also said, "The public is advised not to fall prey to such misinformation. Circulating fake government orders is a punishable offence under the Information Technology Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code."It is worth noting that in July 2023, the State Election Commission of Jammu and Kashmir hinted that the Panchayat polls could be held in October that year. Later, however, it was postponed, and in October 2024, the Jammu and Kashmir government extended the mandate of the Local Bodies, hinting that the Panchayat and urban local body elections would be also found the official notification of the announcement of the 2018 Panchayat Elections in Jammu and Kashmir on the official website of the Chief Electoral Officer. A comparison of both notifications is it is clear that the viral notification is fake.- EndsTune InMust Watch Want to send us something for verification? Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000 You can also send us an email at factcheck@
India Today
05-08-2025
- India Today
Fact Check: These sadhus were NOT attacked for hiding cameras in a temple changing room
A video of a mob attacking a group of Hindu holy men is making the rounds on social media. Those sharing the clip claimed that in Ghaziabad, devotees found a camera planted by temple caretaker (mahant) Mukesh Goswami in a women's changing room there. Locals and the police subsequently beat up sadhus from the temple. Sharing the clip on X, one person wrote, 'The biggest news of the day. In Muradnagar, Ganga Nahar of Ghaziabad district, Uttar Pradesh, a camera was found in the changing room outside a temple, and its live feed was on Mahant Mukesh Goswami's mobile. Videos of women changing clothes were found on Mahant's mobile. FIR filed against the mahant, who has absconded.'advertisement India Today Fact Check, however, found that while a similar incident did occur in Ghaziabad last year, the viral clip is actually from West ProbeReverse-searching keyframes from the viral video led us to an article containing its screenshot, which stated that the video was from January 2024, when people stripped and beat up sadhus in West Bengal's Purulia district. Many on social media had shared this video along with other footage of the incident at the article also contained a post by the Purulia District Police dated January 13, 2024. It stated that on January 11, 2024, a misunderstanding took place between three Gangasagar-bound sadhus and local minor girls. Locals then manhandled the sadhus and vandalised their vehicle, alleging a kidnapping attempt. Twelve people were arrested, and there was no communal angle to it. We also found many news reports about the 2024 incident from Purulia Police (@PuruliaPolice) January 13, 2024We then looked for news reports about the incident in Uttar Pradesh, as mentioned in viral posts. We found that a similar incident occurred in Ghaziabad in May 2024. At the time, a hidden camera was found in a women's changing room near a temple in Muradnagar, Ghaziabad, on May 21, FIR was lodged against temple caretaker Mukesh Goswami for allegedly installing the camera and watching its live feed. Mukesh absconded, and a reward of Rs 1 lakh was announced for his also demolished the changing room while removing encroachments at the site of the incident. However, in October 2024, the Allahabad High Court granted anticipatory bail to DCP of the Rural Commissionerate, Ghaziabad, on August 4 also posted that the viral video was unrelated to the Ghaziabad incident and that police had already taken action in the while a similar incident did take place in Ghaziabad last year, the video of people beating up sadhus has nothing to do with it.- EndsMust Watch
India Today
30-07-2025
- General
- India Today
Fact Check: These beluga whales DIDN'T warn Russia before the massive earthquake
Tsunami waves hit parts of Japan and the United States after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Russia's eastern coast on July 30. One of the strongest ever recorded, the earthquake in Russia left everyone shocked. But did a family of beluga whales warn the people of Russia a day before this disaster?Sharing a video, many on social media claimed that on July 29, five beluga whales had washed ashore in Russia's Kamchatka - the epicentre of the earthquake. The whales were supposedly warning people of the massive earthquake about to hit the region. advertisementSharing the clip on Facebook, one person wrote, 'Five beluga whales washed ashore in Kamchatka just a day before the 8.8 earthquake. Nature gave us a warning, but we failed to listen.' Some news outlets also used this video in their reports about the earthquake. India Today Fact Check found that the video in question is indeed from Russia, but dates back to ProbeReverse searching keyframes from the viral video led us to a news report about it, dated August 15, 2023. It is hereby clear that the video is almost two years report stated that five stranded beluga whales were rescued by local fishermen in Russia's Far East. The belugas, four adults and a calf, were found on a beach near the mouth of the Tigil River. We then found multiple news reports about the incident. According to them, local fishermen found a group of beluga whales beached on the shores of Tigilsky, northern Kamchatka. The four fishermen, Andrey Korolev, Vladimir Kochelaevsky, Sergey Umkev, and Ashot Ustyan, tried to carry the whales back to the ocean. But they were unable to do so because the whales were too heavy. They then kept the whales alive by feeding them and pouring seawater on them. After some time, a tide came in and took them all back to the Sea of Okhotsk. The video was shared by several Russian news outletsat that beached beluga whales were rescued after being beached on the shores of Tigilsky, on the Kamchatka peninsula in eastern Russia RT (@RT_com) August 21, 2023Thus, it is clear that a 2023 video is being falsely shared as whales warning people about the earthquake in Russia a day before it struck the country.- Ends Want to send us something for verification? Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000 You can also send us an email at factcheck@
