Pics From Bangladesh, Srinagar Viral as Cong Leader Held in Assam

The images are from 2018 and could be traced back to Srinagar and Bangladesh.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Unrelated images from Bangladesh and Srinagar which could be traced back to 2018 are doing the rounds on social media with a claim that they show Amjad Ali, supposedly a Congress leader from Assam who was caught with ammunition by the cops. The claim further adds that he was planning an attack on “kaafirs” (non-believers).

CLAIM

The aforementioned images are being shared with a claim which translates to: “Congress leader from Assam, Amjaat Ali was arrested while smuggling ammunition in apple boxes. He was planning to kill the non-believers and the cops caught him. All Hindus must rise against this.”

The images are massively viral on Twitter and Facebook with the same false claim.

An archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

An archived version of the post can be accessed here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

An archived version of the post can be accessed here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND

We searched Google for “Assam Congress leader arrested for carrying ammunition” and found no relevant links which in turn raised doubts around the veracity of the viral claim.

Next, we ran a reverse image search on the photographs and found that they date back to 2018 and while one is from Srinagar, the other could be traced back to Bangladesh.

IMAGE 1

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

A reverse image search directed us to an article by Free Press Kashmir. Dated 29 October 2018, the article mentioned that the image is from the Srinagar-Baramulla highway where the cops arrested three militants.

Another local Kashmiri news outlet, Daily Excelsior also published a report carrying the viral image.

(Source: Daily Excelsior/Screenshot)

We also found this tweet by the J&K Police which mentioned that arms and ammunition were recovered from militants on the outskirts of the Srinagar city.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

IMAGE 2

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

A reverse image search led us to a blogpost from Bangladesh which carried this particular image and claimed that the man who was arrested by the cops is a school teacher who harassed his student.

(Source: eaibangla.blogspot.com)

Popular English newspaper in Bangladesh, The Daily Star also carried a report on the incident. Dated 6 May 2018, the report mentioned that a schoolgirl died by suicide, after being allegedly harassed by a teacher of a local madrasa in Hapania Goysapara village of Dhakikhola union.

The same images with this misleading were also viral in 2018 and were debunked by fact-checking website BOOM. BOOM had then reached out to the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) who said there was no APCC member named Ajmat Ali Seb.

Evidently, old and unrelated images from 2018 are being shared to falsely claim that a Congress leader from Assam was caught smuggling ammunition to kill the non-believers.

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