Old, Unrelated Images of Cops Falsely Linked to Farmers’ Protest

While one of the images could be traced back to at least February 2020, the other one is from 2013.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A set of two old images of policemen has been falsely linked to the ongoing farmers’ protest. One of the images shows a tattoo on the arm of a policeman which seemingly reads ‘RSS’ and another one shows stones in the hands of a cop.

However, while one of the images could be traced back to at least February 2020, the other one is from 2013.

CLAIM

A collage of the two images was shared by a user on Twitter, with the caption, “तस्वीरे खुद बोलती है, क्या हो रहा है ये मेरे देश मे..।।,” and #FarmersProtest.

(Translation: “Pictures speak for themselves, what’s happening in my country.”)

You can view an archive here.

A Facebook page ‘Jumla Wahi Sunayenge’ also shared the images with the same caption, garnering over 1,300 shares at the time of writing this article.

You can view an archive here.

You can view an archive here.

The Quint also received the image on its WhatsApp helpline for verification.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

IMAGE 1

A reverse image search led us to several social media posts which claimed that the policeman had a tattoo of ‘RSS’ on his arm.

This post on sharechat says, “Do you see the RSS written on the hands of this policeman? This is the UP Police RSS,” in Bengali.

We also found another post on Twitter dating back to April 2020 and another one on Facebook dating back to 17 February 2020, much before the farmers’ protest began. However, it is unclear what ‘RSS’ stands for in the viral image.

IMAGE 2

On a reverse image search we came across the original image on Facebook page, ‘Nirmalagiri College SFI,’ dating back to 23 August 2013.

We got in touch with a former secretary of the SFI Nirmalagiri College Unit, Anas VK, who was unable to provide us with any details regarding the image.

While we could not establish the context of the images, it is evident that two old images of policemen dating back to February 2020 and 2013 have been falsely linked to the farmers’ protest.

The story was first debunked by BoomLive.

(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.)