A deepfake of Indian Army officer Girish Kalia is being shared on social media with the claim that he admitted China had taken control of parts of Arunachal Pradesh and that Indian forces were being directed against Gen Z protesters instead of confronting China.
BOOM found that the viral video uses footage from October 2023, when Kalia was speaking about infiltration attempts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. An AI voice-detection tool also flagged the viral audio as likely a deepfake.
Protests against NHPC’s Siang Upper Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh’s East Siang district turned violent on October 23, 2026, leading to incidents of arson and the deployment of security in Pasighat and the imposition of restrictions on public gatherings. According to a report by The Indian Express on October 25, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapur confirmed recent face-offs between Indian and Chinese troops at multiple locations in the state. Responding to the reports, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said such tensions typically arise when Chinese troops deviate from established patrolling patterns along the border.
The Claim:
The viral video is being shared on social media with the claim that Lt Gen Girish Kalia, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Spear Corps, admitted that China had taken control of Asaphila, Longju and Taksing Circle in Arunachal Pradesh.
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The video has a watermark, 'Baba Thoka', an X handle BOOM has previously fact-checked for spreading misinformation and AI-generated deepfake videos targeting Indian Army officials.
What We Found:
1) Original Video
We found that the original video dates back to October 27, 2023. A reverse image search using keyframes from the viral video led us to a post shared by news agency ANI on X on October 27, 2023.
The original video shows Major General Girish Kalia, then General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 28 Infantry Division, addressing the media in Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir.
2) AI Detection Tool Result
We also analysed the audio from the video using the Hiya Deepfake Voice Detector. The tool returned an authenticity score of 18 out of 100, indicating that the sampled audio was likely a deepfake.