On 17 March 2025, Hindu organisations held a protest in Nagpur, Maharashtra, demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb, during which communal violence broke out in Ganeshpeth and nearby areas. Amid this, posts circulating on social media (here, here, and here) show a Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fan holding a placard with offensive language directed at Aurangzeb and his followers during an Indian Premier League (IPL) match. The post is being shared with captions such as “Another reason to love CSK.” Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: A CSK fan holding a placard with offensive language directed at Aurangzeb and his followers during an IPL match.
Fact: The viral photo is digitally edited. The original photo does not feature any offensive placard. Instead, the actual placard held by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fan reads: “The Man. The Myth. The MAHI.” AI tools also confirm that the image is AI-generated. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
We noticed that a user commented that the image might have been edited. Additionally, the text in the image was unclear, the font appeared different, and a Grok AI watermark was visible in the bottom right corner of the viral image.
To confirm this, we utilized Sightengine’s AI image detection tool, which determined with 99% confidence that the image was generated using artificial intelligence.
To verify further, we used the Hive.ai detector, which indicated with 99.8% confidence that the image was AI-generated.
We then did a Google Lens search of the image, which led us to an Instagram post by writer-director Rathna Kumar (@mr.rathna) dated 24 March 2025. The post featured a photo similar to the viral image and included the caption: “MAHI is part of my life. CSK is part of my heart. They never lost whenever I went to the ground and watched the match.” Kumar also shared the same photo on his official X account.
A comparison of the images revealed that the viral photo featuring an Aurangzeb poster was manipulated. His hands appeared disfigured, and the text on the jerseys of the person beside Kumar was distorted, suggesting AI-generated alterations.
We also found an X post by Rathna Kumar, where he called out another version of the viral image, stating, “Who are you guys? Amidst all the issues we have… morphing maniacs.”
To sum up, the viral image of a CSK fan holding a placard with offensive language directed at Aurangzeb has been digitally altered using AI.
