Is It Old? Is It From Delhi or Kerala? No, This Photo Is Recent and From Mumbai
The photo was taken on 6 October 2026 and shows tribal students being detained in Mumbai's Dadar area.
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A photograph, showing a woman with a child clinging on to her as she resists being put in a bus while surrounded by police personnel, has gone viral on social media.
One section of users have claimed that it shows recent visuals from the protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar across Delhi.
Some others have claimed that it shows visuals from Mumbai's Azad Maidan, dating back to 2024.
News organisation NDTV had also made this claim in an Instagram reel shared on their account, but later took it down.
Among others was lawyer Ashutosh Dubey, who claimed that the image is from 2023 and shows protests in Kerala.
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader Saurav Das shared this image on 10 October without any context, as did a Facebook account impersonating founder Abhijeet Dipke. (Swipe)
(Source: X/Screenshot)
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
What's the truth?: The image is a recent one from Mumbai, and was taken on 7 October 2026 when tribal students, who had marched to the city from Nashik were forced into buses outside Tilak Bhavan.
How do we know?: A simple reverse image search led us to Reuters' website, where a similar photo was shared on 6 October 2026, as one showing tribal students being detained outside Mumbai's Tilak Bhavan.I
The photo was published on 6 October.
(Source: Reuters/Altered by The Quint)
It was also a part of a report by Hindustan Times about the same protest in Mumbai and was credited to photojournalist Raju Shinde.
On his verified Instagram account, Shinde had shared the viral image as part of a carousel showing visuals of tribal students being detained in buses.
The post shared the highest quality versions of the image, which clearly show 'Mumbai Police' written on police caps, indicating that the image is neither from Delhi nor Kerala.
The caps read 'Mumbai Police'.
(Source: Instagram/Altered by The Quint)
What happened?: As per the Hindustan Times' report, between 200-300 tribal students had marched to Mumbai from Nashik demanding improved basic facilities in tribal schools and hostels.
After the police refused to grant them permission to protest at Azad Maidan, the students insisted on meeting Governor Jishnu Dev Varma and took shelter at the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC)'s headquarters at Dadar's Tilak Bhavan.
When the students reportedly planned on returning to Nashik, the Mumbai Police and other security personnel prevented them from leaving, forcing them into buses waiting outside the Bhavan's premises.
More reports carrying visuals and similar details about the tribal students' recent march to Mumbai can be seen here and here.
Conclusion: A recent photo from Mumbai's Dadar has gone viral on social media with false claims about it being a recent one from Delhi, and old photo from Mumbai, and an old photo from Kerala.
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