An image of an anti Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest in Kolkata where protesters raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi is viral claiming residents of Bihar are protesting before the elections.
BOOM found that the photo was taken at an anti-CAA protest during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Kolkata on January 11, 2020.
The photo is being shared in the backdrop of the upcoming Bihar assembly elections where Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party is looking to come back to power with alliance partner Janata Dal (United).
In the photo, which has been taken at night, protestors are painting a giant sign which reads "GO BACK MODI" on the road.
The photo is now being shared with the claim that voters in Bihar are expressing their displeasure with the Modi government. The hashtag "#GoBackModi" is being used in tweets and Facebook posts along with the image as are the Tamil captions "In Bihar...".
The photo is also being shared with the caption "Bihar is on fire mode #GoBackModi" on Twitter and Facebook.
The archive of the tweet can be accessed here.
The archive of the tweet can be accessed here.
The archive of the tweet can be accessed here.
The archive of the post can be accessed here.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse search on the image and found this tweet from January 11, 2020 which stated that the photo was clicked in Esplanade in Kolkata.
In the photo, a building can be identified as the Metro Channel Control Post which falls under the Hare Street Police Station jurisdiction.
A Google search with the keywords "Metro Channel Control Post Hare Street Police Station" led us to multiple news reports from February 3, 2019 of a dharna held by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee against the CBI in the same location, confirming that the photo is from Kolkata. This article by The Hindu states that CM Banerjee went on an "indefinite sit-in in front of the Metro Channel Control Post of Hare Street Police station at Esplanade."
BOOM found this image from the February 2019 protest in the archives of Getty Images. The sign Metro Channel Control Post Hare Street Police Station is seen on the building behind CM Banerjee.
BOOM geolocated the Metro Channel police station which can be viewed here.
