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| - Fact Check: These six photos are from 2013, 2018, and 2019 — they DON'T show recent Dantewada Maoist attack
These photos shared on social media also show similar attacks by suspected Maoist insurgents on security forces, they are much older than the recent deadly incident.
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India Today Fact Check
These pictures are from various Maoist attacks which took place between 2013 and 2019 in different parts of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Odisha.
On April 26, ten security personnel and a civilian driver returning from a counter-insurgency operation were killed when their vehicle was blown up by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada. In its aftermath, several photos allegedly from the site of the attack flooded social media.
A substantial number of these photos, however, were unrelated to the attack. In this article, India Today will fact-check six such photos making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter.
Photos from 2013
The first image shows security officials standing near a blast site while the second photo shows jawans carrying what appears to be a corpse on a stretcher.
With the help of reverse image search and relevant keywords, we found the first picture published by the Associated Press. According to the AP, the image showed paramilitary troops standing near their damaged vehicle after Maoist insurgents bombed it in the Koraput district of Odisha on August 27, 2013. At least five people died and two others were wounded in the incident.
We found the second photo in a Frontline report from June 12, 2013. Per the report, the photo was from an attack in Chhattisgarh’s Jheeram Ghati that took place on May 25, 2013. Twenty-seven people, including the state Congress president Nand Kumar Patel and policemen, were killed in the attack.
An India Today report from 2014 also said the photograph was from the Jheeram Ghati case. While neither report mentioned the source of the photo, it clearly precedes the recent Dantewada attack by almost a decade.
Photos from 2018
We found the third image showing a bombed vehicle in a report by The Telegraph published in 2018. According to this report, the third image of a shows a bus that was bombed by suspected Maoist insurgents in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada in November 2018. The Telegraph credited the image to ABP Live. The incident, where four civilians and a Central Industrial Security Force jawan were killed, took place a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to the Jagdalpur district for an election campaign.
The fourth picture of security officials inspecting the site of a blast was published by multiple media outlets including The Indian Express and NDTV in 2018. The photo was credited to the Press Trust of India. Per these reports, the photo was from the site of an IED or improvised explosive device blast in the Kistaram area of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on March 13, 2018. We also found the same image on the PTI website.
Photos from 2019
The fifth image showing scattered pieces of a bombed vehicle was shared by ANI on its Twitter account with similar other images on May 1, 2019.
According to ANI, the image was from an IED blast by suspected Maoist insurgents in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. The blast was executed on a police vehicle. Reportedly, 15 security men and a driver were killed in the incident.
The sixth and final image shows the mangled remains of a car. This image was used by The Indian Express and several other media organisations in 2019. As per The Indian Express report, the photo was from a bomb blast by suspected Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada on April 9, 2019. The photo was credited to The India Express.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Bheema Mandavi and five others, including police personnel, were killed in the attack. The victims were part of a convoy of BJP leaders who were involved in election campaigns for the Lok Sabha Elections 2019. Incidentally, a Mint report on the attack contained a photo of the same mangled vehicle shot from a different angle. This photo was credited to the PTI.
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