Edited Photo of CDS General Anil Chauhan With NSA Ajit Doval Goes Viral

The real photo shows former CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, and NTRO Chief Anil Dhasmana.

Fact-check: This photo is altered. 

(Photo: The Quint)

An image showing Chief Of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) Chief Anil Dhasmana sitting together is going viral on social media.

This comes after the government appointed retired Lt General Chauhan as the new CDS on 28 September, nine months after India's first CDS General Bipin Rawat's death.

However, this image is morphed. The real photo is from 2021 and shows:

• Former CDS General Bipin Rawat instead of Chauhan.

• Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami instead of Doval.

CLAIM

The photo is being shared with the caption that reads, "श्री जनरल अनिल चौहान ने श्री अजीत डावल और श्री अनिल धशमाना से मुलाकात की और समर्थन के लिए भी धन्यवाद"

[Translation: General Anil Chauhan met with Mr Ajit Doval and Mr Anil Dhasmana and thanked them for their support.]

(Note: Swipe to see screenshots)

An archive can be seen here.

An archive can be seen here. 

Similar posts can be seen here and here. We also received this photo on our WhatsApp tipline.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT 

On conducting a reverse image search, we came across the original image tweeted by news agency Asian News International (ANI) on 15 July 2021.

It showed Dhasmana with former CDS General Bipin Rawat and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at Uttarakhand Sadan in New Delhi.

We also compared the edited one with the original picture.

The viral photo is flipped and altered to replace Rawat with Chauhan and Dhami with Doval.

Comparison between the edited and the real photo.

Clearly, an edited picture showing Chauhan, Doval, and Dhasmana is being shared to push the false claim.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)