A viral document claiming former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has died while still in jail is fake.
The viral letter, purportedly from the Pakistan Foreign Affairs ministry, announces Khan's death, claiming the United Nations was investigating the incident.
Imran Khan, a former politician and cricketer has been imprisoned since August 2023, after being convicted by a Pakistan court after being charged with various corruption charges. Khan who founded the political party and was till his imprisonment, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is currently serving a 14-year jail sentence in Adaila jail in Rawalpindi. Members of the PTI have been in regular talks with the government to facilitate his release, with the talks intensifying after Indian launched a military strike Operation Sindoor against Pakistan.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf confirmed to BOOM that the document was fake. We also found several discrepancies, with missing dates and spelling errors, all showing the viral document has been fabricated to make the false claim.
The document bearing the logo of the Pakistan government is titled 'Press Release', with text claiming, "It is with deep regret and solemnity that we confirm the passing of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in judicial custody. The incident occurred under circumstances that are currently under thorough investigation." While the date in the top section of the document is missing, it carries the date May 10, 2025 at the end.
The document is viral across multiple social media platforms, including WhatsApp and Facebook with many believing it to be real.
FACT CHECK
We first looked for news on Imran Khan's death on social media pages and government accounts of Pakistan including their Foreign Affairs ministry, but did not find any official announcement.
We also did not find such a claim reported by any international media or Pakistan's media. The news of Khan's death, also a former captain of the country's national cricket team, would have made news in India, but BOOM found no credible news reports on such an incident.
We then analysed the document and found several discrepancies including the lack of a proper date and a signature, both a necessity in official announcements.
We noticed that the document only mentions the year as 2025, with no month or day written. Further, the document contains some gibberish and misspelt words like 'isetively' and 'reaffirm'.
We also reached out to Pakistan's Geo Fact Check who on behalf of BOOM, reached out to the spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Shafqat Ali Khan to confirm the document. Khan in his reply called out the document as fake.
Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting also took to social media to post a fact check on the document, asking people to not believe such fake news.
BOOM had earlier received another document addressed to the General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi, claiming Khan had been a victim of sexual assault while incarcerated. We had then reached out to several Pakistani journalists who denied such an incident, adding his political followers would have been in uproar if it was true.
