A set of two images are viral with claims that a Sikh protester who clashed with cops during the tractor rally on January 26, had later been seriously injured by the Delhi Police. The images show a Nihang protester brandishing a sword in front of a security personnel. The second image shows an elderly Sikh man with an injured face.
BOOM found that both the images are unrelated. While the first image shows a protester on January 26, the image of the injured farmer is from December, 2020.
The images are doing the rounds with the caption "Old man got a good beating; look at the change ". (Original caption in Hindi: बाबा जी की कम्बल ठुकाई ; क्या से क्या हो गए देखते देखते ; Before After )
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Netizens have taken a dig at the protesting farmers who breached barricades and reached the Red Fort complex on January 26 during the tractor rally. Police resorted to lathi charge and tear gas to contain the protesters. The second unrelated image in the viral post is being shared to claim that several farmers suffered injuries for having breached the Red Fort complex.
Fact Check
BOOM found that both the images are unrelated and the protesting farmer had been misidentified as the injured Sikh man.
Image 1
We ran a reverse image search photograph and found a report by the Indian Express that was published on January 26. According to the caption of the image, A Nihang supporter of farmers clashes with police at Ghazipur border during their 'Kisan Gantantra Parade'. The photo was credited to PTI; we found the same image in the PTI archive.
Image 2
We ran a reverse image search on the second image and was led to a Facebook post by Punjabi singer and actor Sonya Mann. According to the description of the post, the incident occurred in Wadala of Punjab, where protesters on their way to Delhi suffered a road accident..
The same images were tweeted by Bikram Majithia, Shiromani Akali Dal general secretary. According to the tweet, farmers associated with the Kirti Kisan Union met with an accident while on their way to the protest site in the Delhi borders.
We further reached out to Nirbhai Singh Dhudike, state president of Kirti Kisan Unions' Workers (KKUW) who corroborated the turn of events. Dhudike said, "The farmers who were going to Delhi were injured in an accident. They are doing fine now." The same images were also shared by KKUW's Facebook page.
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