Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
An image of Dr Kafeel Khan, suspended paediatrician, who was accused of charges of medical negligence and corruption in connection with the Gorakhpur's BRD hospital tragedy of 2017, is being circulated with the claim that he was in Delhi recently in a farmer’s attire.
However, speaking to The Quint’s WebQoof team, Dr Kafeel Khan said that he hasn’t been to Delhi in the last one month and that the image is a screengrab of a video that was shot on 25 January in a village in Rajasthan. Constable Tejpal, too, confirmed the same to us and that the video was shot in his presence.
CLAIM
Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit shared an image of Dr Kafeel Khan sitting on a tractor with the claim: “इनसे मिलिए यह वोहि गोरखपुर का ऑक्सिजन चोर कफ़ील खान है जो आज किसान बनके दिल्ली में अराजकता फैला रहा है ! योगी जी के डंडे यह बंदा भूल गया ! (sic)”
(Translated: Meet him, he is Gorakhpur’s oxygen thief Kafeel Khan who is dressed as a farmer today in Delhi spreading anarchy. Here, he has forgotten Yogi ji’s sticks)
The image saw its widespread presence on both Facebook and Twitter with the claim that it’s from Delhi.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We found that Dr Kafeel Khan had posted a video on his Twitter profile at 09:49 am on Tuesday, 26 January. The viral image is a screengrab from this video.
To find out when and where the video was shot, we reached out to Dr Kafeel Khan who said:
“The video was shot on 25 January in village Langareeywas which is near Jaipur, Rajasthan. I had gone there to interact with women workers of MGNREGA. On 26 January, I was at Shaheen Academy School, Jaipur for flag hoisting. I haven’t been to Delhi since the last one month.”
We also got in touch with Constable Tejpal who was with Dr Khan on 25 January. He, too, corroborated that Dr Khan was in Rajasthan on the said date and that the video from which the screengrab has taken was shot in his presence.
Regarding Dr Khan’s whereabouts on 26 January, Arif Khan of Shaheen Academy School said, “He was with us in Jaipur on that day and hoisted flag at 9:30 am.”
Further, Dr Khan posted a live video on 25 January dressed in the same attire and the caption mentioned the location as Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Also, he shared a set of images on his Facebook profile in the same attire on 25 January.
Further a local resident of the gram panchayat, Irfan, sent us images of Dr Kafeel Khan from his visit. We extracted the EXIF information and it, too, shows that the picture was taken on 25 January in village Langareeywas, Rajasthan.
He further retweeted videos of the flag hoisting that were uploaded on Twitter on 26 January.
Evidently, an image that was captured in Rajasthan was used to falsely claim that Dr Kafeel Khan was in Delhi recently.
(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 webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)