Security has been beefed up in sensitive places in the capital since protesting farmers clashed with police on Republic Day, and with some residents at the Singhu border two days later.
On social media, several users have chosen an image of a group of men in civilian clothes, wearing helmets and other protective equipment usually worn by law enforcement agencies. Many have sarcastically noted that the Delhi police are employing staff for jeans and sweaters for the farmers’ protests. Others in the comments section said they are BJP and RSS workers.
One such statement in Hindi translates into: “The great Delhi police where people are sent on duty of the farmers agitation, wearing jeans and sweatshirts.”
The same picture was also shared with tweets in Punjabi to ask in which state’s police jeans have a new uniform.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the allegations misleading. The photo is more than a year old and was taken during protests against CAA in Delhi. The men belong to the Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS), whose members mostly work in plain clothes while controlling a riotous crowd.
The archived versions of the posts can be seen here, here and here.
AFWA investigation
Upon reverse search of the viral image, we found it in a report by “The Free Press Journal” of December 17, 2019.
The headline of the article reads: ‘Police or RSS volunteer who is the man in plain clothes seen during CAA protests in Delhi?’
Various handle social media also shared the same photo on December 17, 2019 and linked it to the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Many then claimed to be right-wing activists in police equipment.
#HinduphobicJamia@PMOIndia @narendramodi
#WeAgainstCAB #IndiaVerwerpCAB #CAAAgainConstitution pic.twitter.com/phui1S1RyI– Kuldeep Bharti (@ Kuldeepbharti81) December 17, 2019
This makes it clear that the virus image is more than a year old and is not related to the ongoing farmers’ protest.
Who are the men in civilian clothes?
In 2019, the same picture was shared with the Facebook profile of one ABVP member “Bharat Sharma”, claiming that the man in a red sweater in the viral image he is.
At that point, AFWA spoke to MS Randhawa, then DCP (Central), and the Delhi liaison officer to determine who the man pictured was.
Randhawa confirmed to AFWA that the men seen in the viral image with protective gear are part of a specialized unit called Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS), whose members mostly work in plain clothes while leading a riotous crowd. control.
He added that the man with a red sweater is Arvind, a constable posted at AATS, and that the group was deployed near New Friends Colony to the violence that broke out at Jamia Millia Islamia University on December 15, 2019, to control. CAA argument.
It is therefore clear that the viral picture is more than a year old and is not related to the ongoing peasant agitation. The men in the photo are part of Anti-Auto Theft Squad, whose members are mostly deployed in civilian clothes.
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ClaimThe photo shows men in civilian clothes deployed by Delhi police during agricultural protest. ClosureThis photo is of the Jamia violence in 2019 and the men belong to the Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS) whose members mostly work in plain clothes.
JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE
The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.
- 1 Crow: Half true
- 2 crows: mostly lies
- 3 crows: absolutely false
