Claim
Photo of Ayub Khan, a terrorist disguised as a monk arrested from Mahakumbh.

Fact
PRO of DIG Prayagraj clarified that no terrorist has been arrested from Kumbh. Photo found to be AI generated.

A photograph, purportedly showing a man disguised as a Sadhu (monk) being arrested by police, has gone viral on social media platforms with users linking it to the ongoing Mahakumbh Mela in Prayagraj.

Multiple X and Facebook users claimed that the photo shows one “Ayub Khan,”  a “militant” who was arrested from Mahakumbh, further alleging, “he had come as a sadhu and mingled with our sadhus.” Newschecker, however, found that the photo was AI generated, and does not show an actual incident and that no terrorist was arrested as was being claimed.

Such posts can be seen here, here, here and here.

Also Read: Video Of Drunk Man Being Thrashed For Urinating On Mahakumbh Poster Viral With False Communal Claim

Fact Check/Verification

On carefully analysing the viral photo, we found the hands of the police personnel and the accused appeared to be distorted. Further, the faces of the monks aboard a boat in the background were blurred too, indicating that the media could be AI generated.

We then checked the viral photo on multiple AI detection tools which showed a high probability of the media being AI generated. Hive Moderation detected a 94.6% likelihood that the photo contains AI-generated or deepfake content. Another image detector platform ‘Was It AI’ also concluded, “We are quite confident that this image, or significant part of it, was created by AI.”

But Was A Militant, Disguised As A Monk, Arrested In Mahakumbh?

We did not find any credible reports stating that a “terrorist” who was impersonating a monk was arrested in Mahakumbh.

Also Read: Mahakumbh 2025 – Man Makes World Record By Blowing Conch For Over 2 Minutes? Know Truth Here

However, a “suspicious” man named Ayub was reportedly arrested from outside Yati Narsinghanand Giri’s camp in Mahakumbh last week. He allegedly identified himself as ‘Ayush,’ and said that he came to meet the saint. After police interrogation, it was revealed that his name was ‘Ayub Ali’, resident of Aliganj in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah. Ayub’s relative said that he is a drug addict, and behaves like a mentally unstable person, reported Dainik Bhaskar.

Multiple outlets such as this, this and this featured similar reports on the incident. However, none of them mentioned that Ayub was disguised as a monk, nor carried any statement from authorities identifying him as a militant or having any terror links.

News reports also carried photographs of Ayub from Mahakumbh, in which he can be seen wearing pants and t-shirt.

Newschecker further reached out to the PRO of DIG Prayagraj who also refuted the claim, and clarified, “No terrorist has been arrested from the (Kumbh) Mela premises.”

Also Read: Old Video From Kuwait Falsely Shared As Muslim House Help Mixing Urine Into Hindu Employer’s Drink

Conclusion

Hence, the viral photo purportedly showing a man disguised as a monk being arrested from Mahakumbh has been found to be AI generated. The claims of the arrested man being a terrorist was denied by the UP Police.

Result: Altered Media

Sources
Hive Moderation Website
Was It AI Website
Report By Dainik Bhaskar, Dated January 15, 2025
Telephone Conversation With PRO-DIG Prayagraj On January 24, 2025

(With inputs from Raushan Thakur of Newschecker Hindi)

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