A viral social media post claiming that The Washington Post published an article about the U.S.-based Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun staging an attack on himself is fake.
BOOM found that there is no such news article, and the screenshot in the post has been photoshopped. We also contacted a spokesperson from The Washington Post who confirmed that the screenshot is fake.
According to the claim, U.S. intelligence agencies assessed that Pannun might have staged an attack on himself. The fake screenshot also alleges that after a year of investigation, no evidence has been found linking India to the attack.
This fake screenshot was also shared by Arun Pudur, founder of Malaysia-based Celframe Corporation, who posted, “Why are we not talking about this?! After 1 year of investigation, the U.S. found Pannu faked an attack on himself to implicate India.”
Archive link.
The headline of the fake screenshot, which features The Washington Post’s logo and interface, reads, “An assassination plot on US soil reveals a darker side: Pannun may have staged attack on himself to implicate India.”
It also claims that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating this angle, based on “startling facts” allegedly revealed by one of Pannun’s associates.
Fact-check
BOOM found that the screenshot is photoshopped. The original article was published by The Washington Post on April 29, 2024. The headline says, “An assassination plot on American soil reveals a darker side of Modi’s India”.
Further, in the fake screenshot it says, “In reports that have been closely held within the American government, U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Pannum could have staged attacked on himself. After one year of probe, no Indian angle have been found yet to reach a conclusion that India was involved in the attack.”
However, the original article states, “In reports that have been closely held within the American government, U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the operation targeting Pannun was approved by the RAW chief at the time, Samant Goel. That finding is consistent with accounts provided to The Washington Post by former senior Indian security officials who had knowledge of the operation and said Goel was under extreme pressure to eliminate the alleged threat of Sikh extremists overseas.
The original article talks about the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh leader from Canada. It also covers the ongoing conflict between the Indian government and Sikh separatists, and the strain this has put on Canada-India relations. However, the article does not mention anything about Pannum faking his own death.
Additionally, BOOM contacted a spokesperson for The Washington Post, and Gerry Shih, the India Bureau Chief. Both confirmed that the screenshot being circulated is fake and directed us to the original article.
Shih has also debunked the viral post on his X account.