Fact Check: Congress leader passed off 2019 image of CAA protest as anti-rape violence in Lucknow

Hyderabad: A picture of two vandalized outside-broadcasting (OB) vans is viral on social media with the claim that the incident took place in September 2020 during a protest over the alleged gang-rape of a Dalit woman in Hathras.

Congress Media Coordinator Aabid Mir Magami posted this picture and wrote: "All happiness is on one side and the joy that godi media was attacked is on another side. Long live Lucknowites".

(Archive Tweet)

Fact Check:

This claim that this incident took place recently is false.

NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found that the image was published by 'Local Heading' in December 2019. According to the report, the media was targeted during the violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. "The miscreants vandalized the OB vans of several news channels, while the cameras of several media persons were also broken", the report reads.

We also found another article by 'Business Times' of December 2019 which carried an image of a similar News18 OB van. It states that the protests turned violent in the Hazratganj area of Lucknow and a media OB van was set ablaze.

News18 had also reported about this incident on December 19, 2019. The anchor stated that stone-pelting took place outside Lucknow Press Club and it was informed by UP bureau chief Pranshu Mishra that similar protests were being held across the city.

Aabid Mir Magami passed off an old image from CAA protests as the recent Lucknow protest. Thus, the claim is false.