India TV Fact Check: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the liquor policy scam has led to the circulation of various misleading and fake content on social media. Among these is a picture allegedly showing Kejriwal being taken away by police. This photo is being presented in a way that suggests Kejriwal is being forcefully taken away by the police. However, our investigation has found that the viral images are nearly a decade old and unrelated to the recent events involving the AAP national convenor.
What is going viral?
A user (gk_india__) shared a photo on the social media platform Instagram with the caption, "Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal arrested by ED." The accompanying text claims, "Kejriwal Arrested! Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal arrested by ED." In the viral photo, it seems that Kejriwal is being dragged by police officers, with his hands and legs being held.
India TV did fact check
When we carefully examined this post, we noticed in its comments that several users had written that this is an old photo. After that, we decided to find out the truth about the image by using Google Reverse Search. During this process, we came across a news article on the News18 website published on October 12, 2012. The same image was used in that news article which is being shared in the viral post. The headline of this News18 article reads - "Kejriwal detained by police, to continue protest."
The first paragraph of this news article is written in English, which says, "Arvind Kejriwal, who became a leader from anti-corruption activists, along with Manish Sisodia and other members of India Against Corruption (IAC), were detained on Friday in the national capital when Delhi Police ended their dharna near the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence. They were loaded into a bus and taken to a local police station."
This news confirms that the viral photo is actually 12 years old, depicting the time when Arvind Kejriwal and his fellow leaders were protesting against the then Central government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
What came out in the fact check?
The viral photo of Arvind Kejriwal on Instagram actually depicts a protest from 12 years ago, not his arrest by the ED.
