Viral social media posts claiming Shadab Farooq, the Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI) student who was injured by a teenage shooter on January 30, 2020, is the same person seen in CCTV footage of December 15, 2019, when Delhi Police lathi-charged students, are false. BOOM found the photos show two different men.
After a video emerged on social media on February 16, 2020, showing Delhi Police thrashing students inside a room at the university's library on December 15, 2019, a second video surfaced which shows students huddling inside a room and barricading themselves against the police using classroom desks.
Several Twitter users misidentified the student in the video falsely claiming that he is Shadab Farooq, a mass communication student who was injured during the Jamia shooting incident on January 30, 2020.
A set of two photos, in which one can spot both the students with longish hair was shared claiming that both are the same student - Shadab Farooq.
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Shashank Singh, co-founder of the website Fact Hunt, tweeted the two sets of photos falsely comparing both.
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ABP News journalist Vikas Bhadauria also shared the viral video with the false claim.
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Farooq, had suffered an injury to his left arm when a gunman shot at students, who had gathered to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), on January 30, 2020.
Also Read: No, Anti-CAA Protester Injured In Jamia Shooting Did Not Fake His Injury
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that both the JMI students being compared are different and not the same individual. We found that the student in the library CCTV video is not Shadab Farooq as being claimed.
BOOM spoke to Farooq who denied that the student in the viral video is him and said he was not present at the university on December 15, 2019.
"I was not present in Jamia, On December 15. 2019, Shadab Farooq told BOOM.
"I had gone for Jashn-e-Rekhta - an Urdu poetry event till 6.30 pm that was held at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, India Gate, New Delhi."
Farooq provided BOOM with photos of him present at the event on December 15, 2019 and on comparing his photos with the boy in the viral library footage, we found both do not match.
Jashn-e-Rekhta was held from December 13, 2019, to December 15, 2019, in Delhi.
Farooq sent the timestamp when the photo was clicked on December 15, 2020, at 4.42 pm.
BOOM also found a reply form one of Farooq's friend present with him at the event also tweeted a reply to one of the misleading tweets.
We also analyzed the footage with Farooq photos and found that facial features don't match as the student in the CCTV footage has a different beard than Farooq and his hair is parted in the middle whereas Farooq has a side hair parting. Additionally, Farooq has round glasses and the student in the viral video has rectangular glasses. BOOM was able to confirm the identity of the other student as Mohammad Ashraf Bhat.
