Anoop AJ Bhartiya Janata Party candidate shared a picture of Kerala police vehicle claiming that Kerala police vehicle has an Islamic symbol similar to the one on the vehicles of the Afghan-ruled Taliban. Similar claim was also posted by an Indian news website “Kamudi Online”.
(Screenshot from Twitter post)
(Picture of imprinted symbols)
(Screenshot from Kaumudi’s official website)
Debunked Source
Pic 1: Kerala Police vehicle imprinted with a symbol.
— Anoop A J (@AnoopKaippalli) June 20, 2022
Pic 2: Taliban vehicle imprinted with same symbol.
Recently a policeman was caught helping PFI plot murders. Fireforce gave martial training to PFI. Deep penetration of Jihadi network in @TheKeralaPolice is now undeniable. pic.twitter.com/IomMAQAWBo
Fact Check
In order to verify the claim, we performed a reverse
image search of the vehicle claimed as Taliban’s Vehicle and found that the shared photo is doctored. The picture dates back to 11th August 2021 amid Taliban captured Farah Province, but no crescent symbol was seen on the actual image.
(Original Image)
(Screenshot from AP images website)
(Shared Image)
This is the vehicle of Kerala armed forces 5th Battalion Detachment Camp at Maniyar, Pathanamthitta. According to the explanation given by the police officer in the sticker controversy, the newly bought bus was given to a workshop in Vadasserykara to affix stickers etc. Various stickers were placed on other parts of the bus as decoration. As this became controversial, Pathanamthitta SP, top police officials also stated that the propaganda that there is an Islamic connection behind the incident is baseless.
(Screenshot from East Coast website)
Source
Rating
Misleading/Propaganda
Conclusion
Our fact-check confirmed that the propaganda of Islamic symbols on the vehicles of the Kerala police similar to those on the vehicles of the Taliban in Afghanistan Is misleading. The investigation revealed that the picture of the Taliban vehicle was edited and used for propaganda. The new bus of Kerala Armed Forces 5 Battalion has been decorated with stickers that have led to controversy. They were later removed. Pathanamthitta SP and state intelligence have investigated the matter and stated that there is no problem.
ABCDE Framework-Based Analysis
| Actor | An official, verified account of BJP’s candidate is the originator of disinformation. |
| Behavior | A doctored image of Taliban’s vehicle was shared and linked its resemblance with Kerala’s police mobile. |
| Content | Twitter post. |
| Degree | The targeted audience of this disinformation are the general public of India. The shared image of a Taliban vehicle from Afghanistan was doctored, the original pictures show that it has no crescents imprinted. |
| Effect | The tweet was an attempt to mislead the public and create panic. The agencies and top police officials investigated the matter. The crescent stickers were also removed from Kerala’s police vehicles. |