Defence Expert Praful Bakshi Didn’t Call Kulgam Attack a ‘False Flag Operation’

We found out that the video is a deepfake.

A deepfake is going viral on social media, claiming to show a defence analyst stating that the recent CRPF attack in Kulgam is a 'false-flag operation' to divert public attention from the growing political pressure on the Narendra Modi-led government.

(Source: X/Altered by The Quint)

A video is going viral on social media, claiming to show a defence analyst stating that the recent Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) attack in Kulgam is a 'false-flag operation' to divert public attention from the growing political pressure on the Narendra Modi-led government.

• In the video, the man purportedly says that, with the Indian National Congress (INC) protests growing in demand for the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner, the timing of the terror attack in Kulgam raises serious questions.

An archived version of this claim can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

Is it true?: No, the claim is false, as the video is a deepfake.

• The original video doesn't show Defence Expert Praful Bakshi calling the Kulgam attack a ‘false flag operation’.

What happened recently:

• Three CRPF personnel were injured in a suspected terrorist attack in Kashmir's Kulgam on 11 November 2026.

• The incident occurred at around 2:15 PM when motorcycle-borne terrorists opened fire on the soldiers at a checkpost near Mir Bazaar.

How did we find out?: We ran a keyword search and didn't find any credible sources reporting on the statements purportedly made by the defence analyst.

• We ran a reverse image search on the video using Google Lens, and it led us to a report by ANI with the same visuals.

• The video shows Defence Expert Praful Bakshi commenting on the CRPF terror attack in Kulgam.

• He says that the incident is very sad, and that Kulgam has been a scene of action on a number of occasions.

• He goes on to say that the Indian armed forces 'have to be on the offensive' and that this issue needs to be looked at from various angles.

• He doesn't call the attack a ‘false flag operation’.

Is it AI?: We ran the video through Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector, a tool that detects AI-generated audio, and it flagged the audio as AI.

Here's the result of AI detection by Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector.

(Source: Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector/ Screenshot)

• We also ran the video through another AI detector, Hive Moderation, which concluded that the video is 99.1 percent likely to contain AI-generated speech.

Here's the result of AI detection by Hive Moderation.

(Source: Hive Moderation/ Screenshot)

Indian Army's Confirmation: The Indian Army's fact-checking unit clarified that the video attributed to Wing Commander Praful Bakshi (Retd) is digitally altered and that he did not make any such statements.

Conclusion: The video is a deepfake and Bakshi did not make any such statements.

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