A photo of chef Augusto Cabrera, managing partner at Delhi eatery Townhall, is being shared with false claims that he is businessman Navneet Kalra, who is currently mired in a controversy. The viral photo shows Cabrera posing with Congress leaders Rahul and Sonia Gandhi and details the scam where oxygen concentrators were found at several establishments owned by Kalra.
Kalra, a businessman who owns restaurants in Delhi and an optical retail chain with branches across the country is in the news after the Delhi police in multiple raids found oxygen concentrators being hoarded at his eateries, with 418 concentrators recovered from Nege Ju restaurant, 100 from Khan Chacha restaurant and nine from Town Hall. The police have arrested four people during the raids and are looking for Kalra, who is said to be absconding.
Also Read: Delhi's Oxygen Concentrator Racket: Who Is Khan Chacha Owner Navneet Kalra?
The incident already gained a communal tone with people trending Khan Chacha and targetting the Muslim community in viral posts. Another set of viral photos show a chef from Town Hall, one of the places raided posing with Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, aiming to claim that the man is Kalra allegedly linked to Congress.
The photo is being shared with the caption in Hindi that translates to, "The Delhi Police has seized 96 oxygen concentrators from the famous Khan Chacha restaurant in Khan Market, Delhi. The owner of Khan Chacha Restaurant is Navneet Kalra absconding. 4 people have been arrested so far, including his manager Hitesh. By raiding the same Navneet's bases yesterday"
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Right wing website, OpIndia has included the same picture in its story about Navneet Kalra where they do not specify that the man posing with the Gandhis is not Kalra but managing partner and chef at Town Hall, Augusto Cabrera.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the man standing next to the Gandhis is Augusto Cabrera, managing partner and corporate chef, Townhall, which is owned by Navneet Kalra. Cabrera who originally hails from the Philippines and is currently based in Delhi.
We checked Kalra's Facebook account and found the viral photo posted by Kalra in January 2019, tagging Augusto Cabrera. The post showed that it was a repost, with the original from January 23, 2015.
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When then compared the viral photo with photos of Cabrera on his Facebook account and found that both match. Kalra has also posted photos of Cabrera and tagged him in several posts.
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Additionally, Kalra has several photos with other prominent politicians including leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, cricketers and Bollywood celebrities which can be seen on his social media accounts.