A photo of a Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress leader standing behind Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav at an event in Madhya Pradesh is being shared with the false claim that it shows Yadav with one of the three assassins who killed gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad.
BOOM found that the man highlighted in the viral photo is not one of the three accused assailants arrested for killing Ahmad. We were able to confirm that the man in the photo is Youth Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh, Rajkumar Yadav.
Ahmad was killed along with his brother in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh on April 15, 2023, while being taken for a medical examination. The three assassins were identified as Sunny Singh, Lavlesh Tiwari and Arun Maurya, and were apprehended immediately.
The viral photo was posted by a Twitter handle 'Reporter' (@socialninzaa) with the caption, "Breaking news the both the killers have been identified, they both belongs from samajwadi party. As per reports #AtiqueAhmed and his brother know many black things about samajwadi party. Akhilesh yadav with help of his party people killed him. Now we know who is real killer."
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The same claim was picked up by the website Indus Scrolls furthering the false claim.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the man in the viral photo is Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress leader Rajkumar Yadav, and not one of the three accused men who shot and killed gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother on April 15, 2023.
We ran a reverse image search on the viral photo which led us to the original photo tweeted by Akhilesh Yadav on April 13, 2023, when he had tweeted photos of his visit to Khargone, Madhya Pradesh.
ABP News reported on April 13, 2023, that Yadav had visited Khargone to pay floral tributes at the statue of late Subhash Yadav, senior Congress leader of Khargone and former Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
Taking a hint from this, we then searched for footage and photos from the same event. Examining the visuals, we were able to determine that the man seen behind Yadav is not one of the three accused shooters.
In the video report below, we can see his facial features clearly.
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Comparing the photos of the three accused published in this article by The Indian Express with the man in the viral photo, shows no similarities.
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BOOM then reached out to SP leader Jaipal Singh Yadav from Madhya Pradesh who was present at the event and identified that the man in the viral photo is Youth Congress leader Rajkumar Yadav. We then reached out to Yadav who confirmed the same.
“I am the president of Sehore Youth Congress and this photo is from April 13, 2023, when Akhilesh Yadav visited Borawan,” Yadav told BOOM. Yadav also said that he would be filing a police complaint soon against those sharing his photo with the false claim.
Yadav sent us several other photos of him from the event which when compared with the viral photo confirms he is the person seen standing being Yadav in the viral picture.
BOOM also reached out to Prayagraj Police who confirmed that only three accused have been arrested who were involved in the murder of Atiq Ahmad. Prayagraj Police Senior Inspector and spokesperson Mahipal confirmed that the man in the viral photo is not a suspect.
“So far only the three killers have been caught in this case. Apart from this, the involvement of any other person has not come to the fore." He further added, that man in the viral photo is not a suspect.