An image purporting to show Prime Minister Narendra Modi pictured in his youth along with jailed underworld don Chhota Rajan, is photoshopped.
The image is also being shared with the claim that it shows Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The photo is viral in the backdrop of the Republican Party of India's (Athawale), announcement to field Deepak Nikalje, the brother of Rajan as candidate to contest polls in Maharashtra in October. RPI is an ally of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)
Click here to view the post, and here for an archive.
The post has two images, the first image which has name tags falsely identifying that Modi and Fadnavis can be spotted with Rajan, while the second image is a screenshot of a news ticker, "Underworld Don Chhota Rajan brother has got a ticket by the BJP".
Viral on Facebook
Searching with the same caption, we found that the photo was viral on Facebook.
FACT-CHECK
Taking a cue from a Facebook comment, we performed a reverse image search of the image and found that the image was photoshopped.
Original Photograph
A search for the photo showed a Times of India article dated September 25, 2014, with the headline, "Narendra Modi returns to his stomping ground as Prime Minister after a 14-year exile" that had the original photograph inside it.
One can spot that the photo has been clearly photoshopped as the man holding his right arm has been cropped out with an image of another person.
Comparison
According to the TOI article, Suresh Jani (left side of Modi), is an old associate of Modi, and had received him at the JFK airport, New York during one of his visits to the United States in 1993, where the photograph was taken.
Additionally, the original photograph can also be spotted in this Rediff article dated September 26, 2014.
Jani had stated in the article that, "I went to the airport to receive Modi when he arrived in the US for the first time in 1993. Then he came in 1997 and once more in 2000."
In neither of the articles does Jani mention that Fadnavis was present with him to visit Modi at the JFK airport or that he was in the US.
Viral since 2015
We also found that the photoshopped image has been circulating on social media since 2015 with the false claim.
Modi g is with chhota rajan?????
wow
sabkaa saath sabka vikaas pic.twitter.com/T74TMJVDrb
Click here to view an archive.