Fact Check by PTI: An X (formerly Twitter) user shared a photo of actor and BJP leader Kangana Ranaut, falsely claiming that the man beside her was gangster Abu Salem. However, an investigation by the PTI Fact Check Desk revealed that the man in the photo is journalist Mark Manuel. A seven-year-old photo was shared on social media with a false claim.
Claim
On May 28, an X user shared a photo of Kangana Ranaut with a man, claiming he was gangster Abu Salem.
The caption of the post read: "Bhakton ki Jhansi ki kee Rani"
An English translation of the post read: "Jhansi ki Rani of bhakts".
Here is the link and archive link to the post and below is a screenshot of the same:
This photo of Kangana Ranaut is going viral
Investigation
The investigation began with the Desk running the screenshot through Google Lens, revealing that numerous users had shared the same claim.
Two such X posts can be found here and here and archive versions of the same can be found here and here respectively.
Several users had shared the same claim
Further scanning led the Desk to a Facebook post shared by Mark Manuel on September 15, 2017. The post featured the same photo along with a lengthy caption.
Manuel mentioned that the photo was taken "at the Korner House in Khar some months ago. It was at a champagne brunch to celebrate Kangana’s film ‘Simran’ that releases today."
Here is the link and archive link to the post and below is a screenshot of the same:
Facebook post shared by Mark Manuel
The Desk further scanned Mark Manuel's profile and discovered that he works as an Editorial Writer at HuffPost.
Here is the link to the profile and below is a screenshot of the same:
Profile of Mark Manuel
Taking a cue from this, the Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google and found a report by HuffPost published on September 24, 2017.
The title of the report read, “Kangana Ranaut Should Realise She's Too Talented To Milk Her Personal Life For Attention”
Here is the link to the report and below is a screenshot of the same:
HuffPost published on September 24, 2017
In the subsequent phase of the investigation, the Desk compared the image of the man in the viral photo with one of Abu Salem and determined that they bore no physical or facial similarity.
Compared photo of man in the viral picture with one of Abu Salem
Consequently, the Desk concluded that the individual wrongly identified as gangster Abu Salem was actually journalist Mark Manuel, pictured with Kangana.
CLAIM
Photo of Kangana Ranaut with Abu Salem.
FACT
The man in the photo dating back to 2017 is journalist Mark Manuel, and not Abu Salem.
CONCLUSION
Several social media users shared a photo of actor and BJP leader Kangana Ranaut with a man, claiming he was gangster Abu Salem. In its investigation, the Desk found that the photo dated back to 2017 and the man standing in the viral photo was journalist Mark Manuel. The photo was shared on social media with a false claim.
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by PTI, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)
