BJP Netas Use MP Mosque Pic to Slam Maha CM On ‘Illegal’ Structure

The image is actually of Jama Masjid located in Katra Bazaar in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar city.

Several social media users falsely claimed that the image is from Mumbai, while in reality, it’s from Madhya Pradesh.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Several social media users, including BJP leaders have shared image of an “illegal construction” falsely claiming that it is from Mumbai. The image used to take a dig at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray shows a mosque located at the centre of a road.

However, The Quint’s WebQoof team has verified that the image is not from Mumbai but of Jama Masjid in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.

This comes in the backdrop of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials demolishing ‘illegal alterations’ at actor Kangana Ranaut's Mumbai office-cum-residence Manikarnika Films.

CLAIM

The claim along with the image reads: “इस अवैध निर्माण को कब तोड़ेंगे उद्धव जी? (Translated: When will you demolish this illegal structure Uddhav Ji?)“

Kuljeet Singh Chahal, general secretary, BJP Delhi shared the image and his tweet had garnered over 4,000 likes at the time of publishing the article.

You can view the archived version here.

Even Ashwini Upadhyay, BJP leader and Supreme Court advocate, took to Facebook and shared the image with a similar narrative.

You can view the archived version here.

Retired IAS officer Sanjay Dixit claimed that the image is from Bandra, Mumbai and took a dig at BMC.

You can view the archived version here.

Several social media users have shared the image on Facebook and Twitter with the same claim.

You can view the archived version here.

You can view the archived version here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

On conducting a Google reverse image search, we a came across a tweet shared in August that carried the same image. Several users had replied to the tweet mentioning that the image is from Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.

One of them also stated that the image is from Katra Bazaar in Sagar.

We also came across a Dainik Bhaskar article that carried the image and mentioned the same location.

We, then, searched on Google Earth and found that Jama Masjid is located in Katra Bazaar, at the junction of four lanes.

Google earth showed that Jama Masjid in Sagar is located at the junction of four lanes.

We also compared the structure of the mosque shown in the viral image with the one seen on Google Earth and found that they are similar.

For instance, the shape of the green structure and its placement is the same in both the cases. The white domes also look similar in both the images.

Left: Viral image. Right: Jama Masjid, Sagar.

Further, the viral image shows a blue rooftop which is divided into three compartments. Google Earth also shows that the other side of the roof top is divided into three compartments.

Left: Viral image. Right: Jama Masjid, Sagar.

Speaking to The Quint, Mohammad Yasir, who lives in the mosque in question, said that the viral image indeed is from Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.

Evidently, several social media users falsely claimed that the image is from Mumbai, while in reality, it’s from Madhya Pradesh.

(With inputs from SM Hoax Slayer)

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