An old and unrelated photo is being shared as visuals of a huge crowd gathered to protest against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 26, 2024
A photograph showing a massive crowd is doing the rounds on social media (here, here, here), with claims that it shows a protest against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, by the Enforcement Directorate. We will fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: This photo shows a massive crowd protesting against Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest.
Fact: This photograph does not pertain to any protest related to Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest. Instead, it dates back to 2023 and captures the scenes from the Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri, Odisha. Hence, the claim made in the post is rated as False.
To check the veracity of this claim, we undertook a reverse image search of the picture in question. We found that the same photograph was posted (archive) in June 2023 by the Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, on his official ‘X’ handle. The caption accompanying the photo stated that it was taken during the Jagannath Rath Yatra – an annual chariot procession attended by throngs of devotees in Puri, Odisha.
ଆତୁର ନୟନ, ବିଭୋର ମନ। ବଡ଼ଦାଣ୍ଡରେ ଭକ୍ତ ଓ ଭଗବାନଙ୍କ ଅପୂର୍ବ ମିଳନ। ଜୟ ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ 🙏#RathaJatra2023 #ରଥଯାତ୍ରା୨୦୨୩ pic.twitter.com/unzxhzIafH
On the other hand, the photographs from the actual protests conducted by the Aam Aadmi Party after the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal can be viewed here and here, and they bear no resemblance to the viral image. Thus, the viral photo is an older image from a religious event in Odisha and is not related to any protests concerning Kejriwal’s arrest.
To sum up, the photograph being circulated as visuals of a large-scale protest against Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest is actually an unrelated photo from a religious ceremony in Odisha.