An image of Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut posing with a man is being shared with a claim that the man seen with her is 1993 Mumbai bombings convict Abu Salem. In this article, we fact-check the assertion linked to the photograph.
Claim: Image of Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut posing with Mumbai bombings convict Abu Salem.
Fact: The individual seen posing with Kangana in the viral photo is journalist Mark Manuel, not the convicted terrorist Abu Salem. The image is from 2017 when Mark Manuel conducted an interview with Kangana Ranaut. He subsequently shared the same image on his various social media platforms. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search on the viral photo led us to a 2017 Facebook post by journalist Mark Manuel, where he shared the same image. In the post, he included excerpts from his interview with Kangana Ranaut alongside the photo. He also posted an identical image on his Instagram profile.
Mark Manuel authored an article for Huffington Post, drawing from his interview with Kangana. Published on 24 September 2018, the article featured the same image. Although the article is presently inaccessible, FACTLY managed to capture a screenshot of it in 2020 when the identical photo resurfaced, as depicted below.
In 2023, when the image resurfaced with the same assertion, Kangana addressed the issue on Twitter (archived) asserting that the man pictured in the photo is the former Times of India editor, Mark Manuel. All these confirm that the individual posing with Kangana in the viral photo is not the convicted terrorist Abu Salem.
Moreover, the image featuring Kangana Ranaut alongside Modi is digitally altered. Its original context dates back to 2020 when Kangana Ranaut was engaged in a discussion with Jaggi Vasudev in Varanasi. The image has been manipulated to portray her conversing with Modi by digitally morphing Jaggi Vasudev’s image.
To sum up, no, the individual alongside Kangana Ranaut in this photograph is not the convicted terrorist Abu Salem.
