Fact Check Friday: Weekly Fake News Round Up

BOOM debunked a range of claims this week, from communal misinformation around violence in Maharashtra and false narratives about the ongoing farmers' protests in Delhi. We also fact checked AI-generated fake news viral on social media.

For Fact Check Friday, we bring you our weekly round up of fact checks.

1. Viral Posts Misquote Sanjay Raut's Statement On Aurangzeb’s Tomb

Following the communal violence in Nagpur, which left several police personnel injured, a video of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut was shared with a misleading claim that he praised Aurangzeb and called his tomb a symbol of his bravery. BOOM found that the viral posts misrepresented Raut’s words, which referred to the tomb as a symbol of the bravery and success of Maratha king Shivaji, who fought against Aurangzeb. We also did not find any public statement made by Raut in praise or in support of Aurangzeb.

The viral video is from Raut's press conference on March 17, 2025 and the complete press conference can be seen in a YouTube video uploaded by ABP Majha.

2. Video Of RSS Leader At An Iftar Party In Delhi Falsely Linked To Nagpur Violence

Another viral claim related to the Nagpur riots falsely linked a video of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Indresh Kumar attending an Iftar party in Delhi on March 15, 2025, to the communal violence in Nagpur on March 17, 2025. The claim falsely stated that Kumar attended the event hours after the violence broke out

BOOM found that the video was from March 15, 2025, when Kumar attended an Iftar (breaking of the Ramzan fast) party in New Delhi. He had also posted the event invitation and streamed a Facebook Live from the event, addressing the guests. The live video was shared at 6:12 pm on March 15, 2025, two days before the violence in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

3. Video Of Modi Wearing Skull Cap and Offering Namaz Is A Deepfake

A viral video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering Namaz in Islamic attire was shared with with many users believing it to be real. However, BOOM found that the video was created using artificial intelligence (AI).

We ran the keyframes from the viral video through the deepfake detection tool "Was It AI?", which confirmed that these frames were AI-generated. We also used the "Deepfake-o-meter," developed by the Media Forensics Lab at the University at Buffalo, which flagged the video as having a moderate to high possibility of being AI-generated.

4. Old Video Of Policeman Slapping Woman Farmer In Punjab Goes Viral

A video of a policeman raising his hand at a farmer was shared linking it to the recent police action against farmers protesting at the Punjab-Haryana borders (Shambhu and Khanauri).

However, BOOM Hindi’s investigation found that the video was from May 18, 2023, at a farmer protest in Gurdaspur, Punjab, against land acquisition.

5. Photos of Nita Ambani gifting luxury cars to Rohit, Virat are AI generated

AI-generated images showing Nita Ambani gifting luxury Bugatti cars to Indian men's cricket team captain Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli were viral on social media, with many users believing them to be real. The images claimed that she presented the cars after India's victory in the 2025 Champion's Trophy.

Upon a closer look at the two photos of Rohit Sharma and Nita Ambani we noticed multiple discrepancies including disfigured hands, an erroneous India spelling and a logo that differs from BCCI's official logo on Sharma’s jersey. We tested the images on AI detector tools like Hive Moderation and Was It AI, with both the tools indicating a high likelihood of these images being AI-generated.

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Fact Check Friday: Weekly Fake News Round Up

BOOM fact-checks the top five claims that went viral this week.

1. Viral Posts Misquote Sanjay Raut's Statement On Aurangzeb’s Tomb

3. Video Of Modi Wearing Skull Cap and Offering Namaz Is A Deepfake

4. Old Video Of Policeman Slapping Woman Farmer In Punjab Goes Viral

5. Photos of Nita Ambani gifting luxury cars to Rohit, Virat are AI generated

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