A photo of Students' Federation of India (SFI) Mysuru leader TS Vijay Kumar is being shared on social media misidentifying him as D Manoranjan, who hails from Mysuru and is an accused in the recent Indian parliament security breach case.
On December 13, 2023, two men, who were part of a group, jumped into the Lok Sabha from the visitor’s gallery with smoke canisters. They were identified as Lucknow resident Sagar Sharma (28) and Mysuru resident D. Manoranjan (33). They both jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery, raised slogans and opened canisters that emitted yellow smoke, triggering panic among lawmakers present. There are currently six accused in the case - Five men and one woman, who have been charged under anti- terror law UAPA and sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The other four accused are - Neelam Yadav, Amol Shinde, Vishal Sharma and Lalit Jha who is being reported to be the mastermind of the operation.
The viral photo of a man speaking on the dais holding a mike, was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by the handle (@ZavierIndia) with the caption, "This is believed to be Manoranjan, one of the intruders of the Parliament, yesterday. Here he is seen to be part of SFI."
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The same photo was shared on Facebook by the page BJP Shivamogga with the misleading claim.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the man in the viral photo is TS Vijay Kumar, SFI's district president from Mysuru and not D Manoranjan, the co-accused in the parliament breach case.
We found a post by SFI Karnataka who dismissed the viral claim stating that the man in the photo is their Mysuru district president TS Vijay Kumar and not Manoranjan as being claimed.
BOOM contacted Amaresh Kadagada, SFI Karnataka president who denied the viral claim and told BOOM, "This is false, the photo is of Vijay Kumar, our Mysuru district president. Kumar has also filed a complaint to Mysuru cyber crime police. Manoranjan who is the accused in the case is also not a part of SFI."
SFI Karnataka also posted a photo of Kumar outside the Cyber crime police station in Mysuru and another photo of the complaint.
Kadagada also told us that the viral photo is from September 8, 2022, which was posted by SFI Mysore's Facebook page which was clicked during a conference.
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BOOM then reached out to Kumar who also denied the viral claim and shared photos of his with us.
Photo provided by Vijay Kumar to BOOM
Several news organistaions have reported on Manoranjan and published a photo of his, including IANS. On comparing the facial features of Kumar and the accused Manoranjan, we can clearly see that they are different individuals.