A screenshot which purports to show a tweet by film star Amitabh Bachchan justifying the demolition of actor Kangana Ranaut's office by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on September 9, 2020 is fake. The doctored tweet in Hindi translates to 'If Kangana Ranaut's office was constructed illegally then #BMC had all the rights to demolish it'.
BOOM found that while the viral screenshot resembles the actual Twitter handle of Bachchan @SrBachchan, there were differences between the viral tweet and other tweets from the actor's timeline.
The tweet is dated September 9, 2020, the same day when a portion of Ranaut's office in Pali Hill, Mumbai, was demolished by BMC officials over alleged structural violations.
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A Facebook post shares the screenshot with a Hindi caption which translates to 'Friends, a word or two for megastar Amitabh Bachchan's tweet. In my opinion, he is a coward'.
(Hindi: मित्रों दो शब्द सदी की महानायक अमिताभ बच्चन जी की ट्वीट के लिए | मेरे नजर में डरपोक है )
An archive of the post is available here.
Click here to access the archive of the post.
The screenshot is also viral on Twitter with similar claims.
A Twitter post shares the screenshot with a Hindi caption which translates to 'Friends, a word or two for megastar Amitabh Bachchan's tweet. In my opinion, he is a coward. In future, BMC will demolish illegal constructions of yours too. And after recovering from COVID-19, you didn't go to the Ajmer tomb to offer a chaddar, badge number 786'.
An archive of the post is available here.
Archives of similar tweets are available here.
BOOM also received the screenshot on its helpline for verification.
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Fact Check
BOOM found that the fake tweet is dated September 9, 2020 and time-stamped at 11:25 am.
An advanced search on Twitter to find tweets by Bachchan on this date and time did not yield results.
Bachchan had on September 9 tweeted twice, once at 1.22 AM and again at 12.23 PM.
Moreover, the fake tweet has some discrepancies when compared to a tweet from Bachchan's handle.
Below, we have compared an original tweet by the actor with the viral tweet.
The Twitter symbol on the upper right-hand side is not visible in an actual tweet whether you open it through your phone app or through a web application.
Another major difference between the fake tweet and original tweets of the actor is the absence of the prefix T. Bachchan is known for numbering all his tweets with a prefix T. The fake tweet has no such prefix.
Also, an advance search on Twitter does not show any deleted tweet from the actor's timeline which is in support of the BMC.
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The story has been updated on September 13, 2020 as BOOM found that the time stamp for Twitter varies from one device to another
