Fact Check: Photo of weapons being destroyed at Kosovo falsely linked to recent Thiruvananthapuram raid
On 26 April, the Thiruvananthapuram police raided a house and recovered country-made guns along with equipment to produce such guns and arrested two persons.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 4 May 2022 10:40 AM GMT
Hyderabad: On 26 April, the Thiruvananthapuram police raided a house and recovered country-made guns along with equipment to produce such guns and arrested two persons. Following this, a photo of numerous guns lying on a street began circulating on WhatsApp with the claim that it shows guns recovered during the raid.
The text on the photo reads, "Gun making under the cover of woodwork. Two arrested in Thiruvananthapuram."
FACT CHECK
NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found the photo on Getty Images. According to the description, the picture shows the destruction of illegal guns seized in Kosovo in 2016.
The photo shows a Kosovar metal foundry employee cutting seized illegal weapons and firearms into pieces before destroying them at a metal foundry near the village of Janjevo, south of Pristina, on 7 July 2016. "Around 2,382 weapons were seized during the investigation of different types of crime during the past year. Kosovo is awash with firearms left over from the 1998-99 war with Serbia and many are illegally in the hands of civilians," the caption read.
On 26 April, the Thiruvananthapuram police raided a house and recovered many revolvers, gunpowder, bullets, and parts of various guns among other equipment. Two people – Asim (44) and Surendran (62) –were arrested for making guns under the guise of carpentry. A report by Zee News India carries the picture of the weapons recovered.
Clearly, the viral picture is not related not to the Thiruvananthapuram incident.
