Old Photos Peddled As Those of Recent Maoist Attack in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada
All photos have been on the internet before 2019 and are not recent photos from Chhattisgarh's Dantewada.
None of these photos show recent visuals from the attack on security personnel in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh.
(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
On 26 April, a deadly IED (improvised explosive device) blast killed at least 10 security personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and one civilian bus driver in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district. The IED is said to have been planted by Maoists.
Shortly after the attack, social media users began sharing several photos claiming to show visuals from the site of the attack in Dantewada.
Gujarat Congress leader Jagdish Thakor too shared a photo, claiming that it was from Dantewada.
An archive of this claim can be seen here.
An archive of this post can be seen here.
But...?: None of these six photos are from the recent attack on security personnel in Dantewada.
We found that all of them were old photographs from various Naxalite or Maoist attacks across the country, and were from different years.
How did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search on all of these photos one by one.
Let's take a look at what we found for each of them.
Photo 1
The photo shows security personnel around an overturned vehicle.
The results for this photo on Microsoft Bing led us to an article by Daily Mail, published on 27 August 2013.
The article was published in 2013.
It mentioned an incident of a Maoist attack in Odisha's Koraput district killing four Border Security Force (BSF) jawans and injuring two.
The same photo was shared in a 2013 article by Dawn, which mentioned that it was a landmine blast.
Stock image website Alamy also carried the same photo as one of a Maoist attack in Odisha in 2013.
Alamy shared the photo in 2013.
Photo 2
The photo shows security personnel transporting a person.
A reverse image search on this photo led us to an article by Firstpost published on 27 May 2013.
The article was published in 2013.
It said that the photo showed security personnel carrying an injured person after a Naxal attack in Bastar, Chhattisgarh.
As per the report, the attack claimed the lives of 27 people and left 37 injured, including former Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh.
This photo was also available on Alamy, published on 27 May 2013.
The date reads 26 May 2013.
Photo 3
The photo shows parts of a heavily damaged vehicle.
The results for a reverse image search for this photo led us to a LiveMint article published on 1 May 2019.
Livemint published the article in 2019.
The article said that photo showed the mangled remains of a police vehicle after a Naxal attack in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli area, and attributed it to PTI.
We looked for the photo on PTI's archives and found that the agency had published it in 2019.
PTI shared the photo in 2019.
Photo 4
The photo shows an upturned vehicle.
We carried out a reverse image search for this photo, which took us to an article published by The Economic Times on 18 April 2019.
ET's article was published on 18 April 2019.
The report said that it showed a Maoist attack on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA's convoy in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada.
It added that an IED was used for the vehicle, after which ultras opened fire on the occupants on all sides.
The Scroll also carried the photo in its 2019 article, attributing it to news agency PTI.
PTI had shared the image as one from 9 April 2019, adding that BJP legislator Bheema Mandavi had reportedly been killed in the attack.
The photo was dated 9 April 2019.
Photo 5
The photo shows a massive crater on the road.
We found this photo in a BBC article published on 30 March 2016.
BBC published the article in 2016.
According to the BBC, at least seven Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.
A NDTV article from 2016 said that the CRPF convoy was travelling between Melawada and Dantewada camps when a landmine blast hit their truck.
Photo 6
The photo shows security personnel near an upturned truck.
We found this photo in an article by The Indian Express, published on 14 March 2018.
The article mentioned a 2018 incident.
The report mentioned that nine CRPF personnel were killed and two were critically injured after an IED attack on a Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) by Maoists.
It happened in the Kistaram area in Chhattisgarh's Sukma, when the personnel were returning to their camp in Palodi.
The photo was available on PTI's archives, who had shared it on 18 March 2018.
PTI shared the photo in 2018.
Conclusion: Old photos of Maoist attacks on politicians' convoys and security personnel are being peddled as visuals of the recent attack on DRG personnel in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada.
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