A collage of images is being shared on social media claiming it is a recent picture of a hospitalised Indian army soldier who is wishing people to pray for his early recovery. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Recent photos of a hospitalised Indian army soldier.
Fact: The images shared in the post show the late Indian Army Colonel Navjot Singh Bal who died fighting a rare cancer in April 2020. The last rites of Navjot Singh Bal were performed two years back in Bengaluru. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the photos shared in the post, similar photos were found tweeted by the ‘ABP News’ journalist Neeraj Rajput on 09 April 2020. Sharing the pictures, Neeraj Rajput tweeted that Colonel Navjot Singh Bal, a Shaurya Chakra awardee, died fighting cancer in April 2020. Neeraj Rajput reported it as Navjot Singh Bal’s last selfie picture taken on his hospital bed.
When we searched for further sources using relevant keywords on the internet, we found the same pictures in an article published by the ‘Amar Ujala’ in April 2020. Amar Ujala reported that Navjot Singh Bal, an ex-commanding officer of the Indian Army’s 2 Para (Special Forces), had died fighting rare cancer on 09 April 2020, in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The last rites of Navjot Singh Bal were performed two years back in Bengaluru. Reporting the news of Navjot Singh Bal’s death, several news websites published articles in April 2020. They can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, old pictures of Col Navjot Singh Bal who died fighting Cancer in April 2020 shared as the recent pictures of a hospitalised Indian army soldier.
