Amid reports of lewd and derogatory comments made about Smriti Singh, the wife of Kirti Chakra awardee, the late Captain Anshuman Singh, by a social media user with the profile name ‘Ahmad K,’ a photo (here, here & here) of a masked individual with police officers is being widely shared on social media platforms claiming that the Delhi police have arrested the man who commented. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of the social media user who was arrested by Delhi police for making lewd comments on Smriti Singh, wife of late Captain Anshuman Singh.
Fact: The photo shows Mohd Kasim, who was arrested by Delhi police on 02 July 2024, in connection with a snatching case. This photo is unrelated to the lewd comment controversy involving Smriti Singh, which began after 05 July 2024. Therefore, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
First, we began our investigation with the photo of Smriti Singh, under which the derogatory comment was made. The picture was taken during the Gallantry Awards presentation at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 05 July 2024. According to state media (here & here), the event took place in the evening, after 5:00 PM Indian Standard Time (IST).
Regarding the viral photo of the arrested person, a reverse image search led us to the same photo uploaded on the X account of ‘DCP Central Delhi’ on 06 July 2024 (archive). The post identifies the person as Mohd Kasim, who was an offender evading trial in a snatching case.
Further research led us to a video uploaded by YouTube channels ISD Crime 24×7 and Cop News (archive) on 05 July 2024 featuring the same individual. As per the details provided in the description, the accused Mohd Kasim has been involved in three criminal cases since 2018. On 02 July 2024, a team from Hauz Qazi police station apprehended Kasim from his residence in Delhi.
Moreover, various OSINT tools (here & here) indicate that the YouTube video featuring Kasim was uploaded at 11:32 AM IST on 05 July 2024, indicating that the video is unrelated to the Smriti Singh comment row since the event was held around 5:00 PM IST that evening. This evidence strongly suggests that the viral photo of the man arrested by Delhi police is unrelated to this lewd comment controversy.
Furthermore, on 08 July 2024, after becoming aware of the derogatory comment made by ‘Ahmad K’ on a photo of Smriti Singh, the National Commission for Women (NCW) wrote a letter to the Delhi Commissioner of Police, requesting the prompt registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the person and his arrest at the earliest. The Commission has also demanded a fair and timely investigation into the matter and requested a detailed action-taken report within three days. Since no official statement has been made regarding the case status as yet, FACTLY has contacted the Delhi police regarding this matter. This article will be updated once the required information is obtained.
To sum up, an unrelated photo was shared, falsely depicting Delhi Police arresting a man for defamatory remarks about Smriti Singh.
