An image of Philipe Haydon, CEO of Himalaya Drug Company is viral with false claims that he is the owner of the company and donates 10 per cent of his annual income to fund terrorism against India. Haydon has been further misidentified as Mohammed Menal, the founder of the company, in the viral posts which call for boycott of the Himalaya products.
Himalaya Drug Company rubbished the false claims in a statement shared on Twitter on Friday.
In the viral image, Haydon poses with products of the herbal wellness and personal care firm in the background.
The caption shared along with the viral images reads, "This is Mohammed Menal. He is the owner of Himalaya Ayurvedic products. He donates 10% of his income to Jihadist's. So it's up to you to decide if you need to buy Himalayan Products. I will never buy Himalaya products and I request you for your support."
BOOM received this image on its WhatsApp helpline number (7700906111) inquiring about its veracity.
Viral on Facebook
On searching with the caption on Facebook we found that the image was viral with the same misleading claims.
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Himalaya Drug Company Rubbishes Viral Post
The herbal wellness and personal care firm issued a statement on Twitter terming the viral posts 'absolutely baseless' and 'untrue'. The statement reads, "The negative rumors, false statements, and photographs being circulated about The Himalaya Drug Company are absolutely baseless and untrue."
Wrong Name And Designation Attributed In Viral Posts
On performing a reverse image search, we found that the man in the viral photo is not the owner of the company, misidentified as Mohammed Menal, but Philipe Haydon, CEO and president of the Himalaya Drug Company.
The photograph was taken from this news article published in Economic Times on September 20, 2016 when the company introduced its range of mothercare products.
Who is Mohammed Menal?
According to the company's website, the founder of The Himalaya Drug Company is Mohammed Manal, who founded the company in 1930 in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He is referred to as M Manal in the website. The website further states that Manal passed away in 1986. The viral post misidentifies and misspells the owner of the company as 'Mohammed Menal'.
Below is the screenshot of the about section of Himalaya products' website featuring an image of Manal.