Old Photo of Attack on Military Personnel Shared as Recent Ambush in Manipur

The photo is from 2014 when rebels had killed 20 Army troops in Manipur's Chandel district.

The photo claims to be of the recent Manipur ambush. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A photo is being shared on social media with the claim that it shows the scene of ambush that happened in Churachandpur district of Manipur that killed seven people.

On 13 November, insurgents had ambushed a military convoy of the 46 Assam Rifles killing seven people, including a Commanding officer and his family in Manipur.

However, we found the photo is from 2015 that showed Indian security personnel inspecting a scene of an attack on a military convoy when rebels killed 20 troops on 4 June 2015 in Chandel district of Manipur.

CLAIM

The photo is being shared along with the claim in Hindi by union Jal Shakti minister Ganjendra Singh Shekhawat that reads, "मणिपुर के चुराचांदपुर जिले के सिंघाट में आतंकियों द्वारा सेना के काफिले पर किया गया हमला देश के दुश्मनों की कायरता है। मैं शहीद हुए असम राइफल्स के 7 जांबाजों को नमन करता हूं। घायल वीरों को शीघ्र स्वास्थ्य लाभ मिले। हम आपके कृतज्ञ और ऋणी हैं। परिजनों से पूरे देश की संवेदनाएं जुड़ी हुई हैं। यह तय है कि उन कायर हमलावरों को बख्शा नहीं जाएगा."

[Translation: Terrorrists attacking an Army convoy in Churachandpur district of Manipur is a cowardly act by India's enemies. I bow down before the martyred soldiers and wish speedy recovery for those who are injured. Certainly, ones behind this act will not be spared.]

An archive of the tweet can be seen here.

Several social media users have widely shared the photo on Facebook and Twitter and the archived links can be seen here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We conducted a reverse image search on the photograph and found it in an article by Hindustan Times.

The story was published on 11 June 2015 and the headline read, "High alert across NE after reports of NSCN-K militants enter India."

Photo from 2015.

We looked with relevant keywords on Google and found the photo on Getty Images.

The caption read, "In this photograph taken on 4 June 2015, Indian security personnel stand alongside the smouldering vehicle wreckage at the scene of an attack on a military convoy in a remote area of Chandel district, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) southwest of northeastern Manipur's state capital Imphal.

Heavily armed rebels in India's restive northeast killed at least 20 troops on 4 June, police said, in one of the area's worst such attacks in years."

The incident happened in 2015. 

WHAT HAPPENED IN MANIPUR ON 13 NOVEMBER?

An Assam Rifles convoy was ambushed in Churachandpur district of Manipur on 13 November, killing a Commanding Officer of Khuga Battalion of Assam Rifles, his wife and their five-year-old son, along with four other Army personnel.

Six others were injured in the attack, The Indian Express had reported.

Two militant organisations People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Manipur Naga People’s Front (MNPF) claimed responsibility for the attack, according to news agency PTI.

The mortal remains of Colonel Tripathi and his wife were consigned to flames while their son was buried at the crematorium in his hometown of Raigarh in Chhattisgarh on 15 November.

Evidently, a photo from 2015 is being shared as from the recent Manipur ambush.

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