No, That’s Not Abhinandan’s Uniform At a Museum in Pakistan

An image of a military uniform is being circulated on social media with a false claim that it belongs to Abhinandan.

An image of a military uniform is being circulated on social media with a false claim that it belongs to Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

(Photo Altered By: The Quint)

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IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman’s return to India hogged the news space, but it also set the fake news mills running.

This month, The Quint came across a social media post, which falsely claimed that the Indian Air Force pilot’s uniform has been kept at a Pakistani museum.

CLAIM

A number of Facebook and Twitter posts shared the image of a military uniform, which – they claimed – belongs to Wing Commander Abhinandan and has been kept at a Pakistani museum as “war trophy.”

TRUE OR FALSE

The claims are false. The Quint found out that the uniform does not belong to Abhinandan.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

A reverse image search of the photo showed at least two tweets – featuring the image – that were posted before Abhinandan was captured on 27 February.

These original tweets by Sheikh Saleem Ahmed, a Pakistani national, suggest that the uniform belongs to an Israeli pilot Captain Lutz.

According to them, a Mirage – flown by Captain Lutz – was shot down by Pakistani pilot Abdus Sattar Alvi during an air combat in April 1974.

One of the images in the tweets confirm the claim.

Image showing a uniform that reportedly belonged to Captain Lutz of Israel.

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