No, Amit Shah Didn’t Say There Will Be Death Penalty for Drug Crimes and Ragging

The graphic is altered. Shah did not talk about the death penalty for ragging and drug-related crimes.

An altered graphic is being shared with the false claim that Home Minister Amit Shah said that ragging and drug-related crimes would be given the death penalty.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A graphic bearing Union Home Minister Amit Shah's photo and Malayalam text is being shared on social media.

What does it say?: The text, attributed to Shah, when loosely translated, reads,

"No one should cry anymore about the reduction in punishment. Death penalty now for drugs and ragging murder. The government's goal is a drug-free India. Strict action will be taken against mafia."

An archived version of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of more posts sharing this graphic can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No, the viral image is altered.

• There is no record of the home minister announcing a death penalty for drug-related crimes and ragging.

How did we find out the truth?: We ran a reverse image search on the graphic, which led us to an X (formerly Twitter) post by Malayalam news organisation Janam TV.

• This graphic bore a resemblance to the viral claim, but read, "The Union Government's goal is a drug-free India."

• The post was shared on 2 March 2025.

• We then carried out a keyword search using Shah's name and 'drug' as the search term, which led us to several news reports from 2 and 3 March.

• One report by The Economic Times attributed statements to Shah, with him saying that the current government was 'unsparing in punishing drug traffickers.'

• It made no mention of ragging or death penalties.

The report was also published on 2 March.

(Source: ET/Screenshot)

• Other reports by The New Indian Express and Hindustan Times also shared the same information, without mentioning death penalties.

• The Press Information Bureau, too, shared Shah's statement, where he provided statistics for drug-related crimes and how the Modi-led government was committed to taking strict action against traffickers.

• Shah also shared a similar posts on his X (formerly Twitter) account.

None of these statements mention ragging or the death penalty.

Conclusion: An altered graphic is being shared with the false claim that Home Minister Amit Shah said there would be a death penalty for ragging and drug-related crimes.

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