Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
In wake of the arrest of former West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee over his alleged role in the SSC scam, a news report on arrests of several ‘fake doctors’ in West Bengal is being shared widely online. Those sharing the viral video believe it to be a recent incident. Newschecker found the video report about the fake doctor racket in West Bengal to be around 5 years old and is being shared out of context.
Several Facebook and Twitter users shared the video expressing their shock and concerns over arrests of “fake” doctors from high-profile hospitals in the state.
Links to such posts can be found here, here, here and here.
Also Read: Policeman In Kolkata Killed By Rioters? Viral Claim Is False
Fact Check/Verification
A keyword search for “Fake Doctor Kolkata” on Twitter led us to several posts from February 2021 featuring the same video, indicating that the incident was not recent. Archived links to such posts can be found here and here.
Newschecker spotted NDTV’s watermark at the top right corner of the viral video. Taking a clue, we conducted a keyword search for “Kolkata Fake Doctors NDTV Report” on Google which led us to a video report by the news outlet, dated June 8, 2017. Titled ‘6 Fake Doctors Arrested In Bengal In A Month, 3 From Top Kolkata Hospitals’, the report featured the same video that is currently going viral on social media platforms.
The report added, “Six fake doctors have been arrested in West Bengal in the last one month. A seventh person was arrested for selling fake MBBS certificates. According to latest reports, large quantities of fake medicines too have been seized in Hooghly district.”
Furthermore, the same video was uploaded on the official YouTube channel of NDTV on June 9, 2017.
In 2017, the CID unearthed fake doctors’ rackets in West Bengal leading to the arrests of several practising doctors across the state. Reports on the same can be read here, here. here and here.
The CID West Bengal had also made a series of tweets informing the arrests of several fake doctors. One such tweet informed about the arrest of one Ajay Tiwary, whose name was mentioned in the NDTV report.
Conclusion
The viral video report about the arrests of fake doctors in West Bengal is old and has been shared as recent.
Result: Missing Context
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
