Image Of Indian Embassy Counsellor At Anti-Pak Protest Is Digitally Altered
A digitally altered image is being falsely shared on social media with the claim that it shows Deepak Raghu, an Indian Embassy counsellor, attending a Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) protest in London, United Kingdom, against the political crackdown in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
BOOM found that the image has been digitally manipulated and that the man is not Deepak Raghu.
On November 10, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) organised a protest over alleged human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) in London.
The Claim:
The image is being falsely shared on social media, where the photo identifies Rakesh Dahiya as a secretary at the Indian Embassy, while the accompanying caption misidentifies the man as Raghu Deepak, who was spotted attending a JAAC protest in London.
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What we found:
1) Rakesh Dahiya is not an Indian Embassy Official: A reverse image search led us to a Facebook post from the handle @rakesh.dahiya.702553. According to the profile he is the Director of Education, New Delhi Municipal Council. His name is also listed on the official NDMC website. Additionally, we found X posts from NDMC’s official account featuring Dahiya.
We also found an image of Deepak Raghu, who is a Counsellor at the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom. Both individuals do not resemble each other.
BOOM reached out to Dahiya. This article will be updated upon receiving a response.
2) Image has been altered digitally: We then ran the video through SynthID detector, which found embedded markers confirming that the video was made or edited using OpenAI.
3) Results from AI detection tools: The image has several visual inconsistencies, like distorted faces and blurred people in the crowd.
We also ran the image through Image Whisperer and Sightengine's AI detection tools, which flagged it as AI-generated.
3) Statement from Ministry of External Affairs: The MEA posted a statement on X calling the image 'fake' and AI-generated.
This content is published by BOOM Live and has not been created or edited by Hello Headlines. View original
