Old Photo Viral As The Recent Attack On Assam Rifles Convoy In Manipur

An Assam rifles convoy was attacked by militants in the Churachandpur district of Manipur on November 13, resulting in seven fatalities, including the killing of a Commanding Officer of Khuga Battalion and his family members. Against the same backdrop, a photo of defence officials standing around a burned down defence vehicle is viral on social media, claiming it shows the aftermath of this recent attack.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, a Union Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, shared the photo on Facebook. He captioned it in Hindi, "मणिपुर के चुराचांदपुर जिले के सिंघाट में आतंकियों द्वारा सेना के काफिले पर किया गया हमला देश के दुश्मनों की कायरता है। मैं शहीद हुए असम राइफल्स के 7 जांबाजों को नमन करता हूं। घायल वीरों को शीघ्र स्वास्थ्य लाभ मिले। हम आपके कृतज्ञ और ऋणी हैं। परिजनों से पूरे देश की संवेदनाएं जुड़ी हुई हैं। यह तय है कि उन कायर हमलावरों को बख्शा नहीं जाएगा।".

[English translation: The attack on the army convoy by terrorists in Singhat of Churachandpur district of Manipur is the cowardice of the country's enemies. I salute the seven brave soldiers of Assam Rifles who were martyred. May the wounded heroes get a speedy recovery. We are grateful and indebted to you. The whole country's condolences are connected to the family members. It's sure those cowardly attackers won't be spared.]

Prakash Dwivedi, a member of the Legislative Assembly representing the Banda Sadar constituency of Uttar Pradesh, shared the photo on Twitter. He captioned it in Hindi, "मणिपुर के चुराचांदपुर जिले के सिंघाट में आतंकियों द्वारा सेना के काफिले पर किया गया हमला देश के दुश्मनों की कायरता है। मैं शहीद हुए असम राइफल्स के 7 जांबाजों को नमन करता हूं। घायल वीरों को शीघ्र स्वास्थ्य लाभ मिले। हम आपके कृतज्ञ और ऋणी हैं।".

[English translation: The attack on an army convoy by terrorists at Singhat in Churachandpur district of Manipur is the cowardice of the country's enemies. I bow to the seven brave soldiers of Assam Rifles who were martyred. The injured heroes should get a speedy recovery. We are grateful and indebted to you.]

Qari Sohaib, the Bihar State's Youth President for Rashtriya Janata Dal shared the photo and captioned it in Hindi, "मणिपुर के चुराचांदपुर में आतंकी हमले में शहीद हुए जवानों को श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित करता हूँ व घायलों के शीघ्र स्वस्थ होने की कामना करता हूँ। आतंकियों की इस कायराना हरकत के खिलाफ पूरा देश एकजुट है। हम अपने जवानों के शौर्य और साहस को नमन करते हैं।".

[English translation: I pay homage to the soldiers martyred in the terrorist attack in Churachandpur, Manipur and wish the injured a speedy recovery. The whole country is united against this cowardly act of terrorists. We salute the bravery and courage of our soldiers.]

The photo is viral with the same narrative on Facebook and Twitter.

Claim:

A photo shows the aftermath of the attack on the Assam rifles convoy in Churachandpur district of Manipur on November 13.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the claim and found it to be misleading. The photo is old, shot in 2015 after the attack on a military convoy in the Chandel district of Manipur.

We conducted a Google reverse image search of the viral photo, which led us to several media reports that used the picture in the past. Media outlets such as NDTV and Hindustan Times used the image in their articles published in 2015.

NDTV reported that a convoy of the Army was attacked by militants in the Chandel district of Manipur on June 5 2015, resulting in 18 fatalities. The convoy belonged to the 6 Dogra infantry regiment and was attacked between Paralong and Charong villages, about 118 km from state capital Imphal.

Hindustan Times reported that a high-security alert was sounded across the northeast region after reports that NSCN-K militants had entered India for revenge attacks. The photo was captioned, "Militants armed with advanced weapons ambushed a military convoy in Manipur's Chandel district bordering Myanmar killing at least 18 soldiers" and was credited to Press Trust of India (PTI).

We also found the viral photo on Getty Images. The picture was titled "India unrest Northeast" and was credited to Agence France-Presse (AFP). The image was described, "In this photograph taken on June 4, 2015, Indian security personnel stand alongside the smouldering vehicle wreckage at the scene of an attack on a military convoy in a remote area of Chandel district, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) southwest of northeastern Manipur's state capital Imphal. Heavily armed rebels in India's restive northeast killed at least 20 troops on June 4, police said, in one of the area's worst such attacks in years."

To sum up, an old photo shot on June 4 2015, after the attack on a military convoy in the Chandel district of Manipur, is misleadingly shared as a photo showing the aftermath of the attack on the Assam rifles convoy in Churachandpur district of Manipur on November 13.

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