Gangster Goldy Brar Photographed With Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann? No, Viral Image Shows A Different Person With The Same Name

Authors

Vaibhav Bhujang

Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.

(This article was originally done by Shaminder Singh in Punjabi by Newschecker’s Punjabi team.)

After Canada based gangster Goldy Brar claimed responsibility for the murder of Punjabi singer and Congress leader Sidhu Moose Wala, an image of a tweet by one Goldy Brar, showing Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann with a man wearing glasses and a grey sweater, is going viral on social media. Users who shared the post identified the man seen in the photo as the same gangster Goldy Brar who claimed responsibility for the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala. Newschecker found that the man in the photo is a different person with the same name.

The picture was shared on Twitter by user @ManiSAiyarINC which is a fake Twitter account peddling misinformation in the name of member of Congress party, Mani Shankar Aiyar and is not his official Twitter account. The tweet has been shared along with the caption “We have reduced security of 400 people in Punjab : Bhagwant Mann .Goldy Brar : ok bro”.

Newschecker found similar claims on Twitter.

Congress leader and famous singer Shubhdeep Singh alias Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead in broad daylight at a village called Jawaharke near Mansa on Sunday. Sidhu Moose Wala was critically injured in the firing and was rushed to Mansa Government Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Two persons accompanying Sidhu Moose Wala were also seriously injured in the attack.

After the murder, Goldy Brar, a gangster based in Canada, took responsibility for the murder by posting on Facebook .

The Punjab government, led by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is being heavily criticised by politicians from across the board for having withdrawn Moose Wala’s security a day before the incident, along with over 420 other VIP’s in the state. 

Fact Check /Verification

We started our investigation by conducting a keyword search with the terms “Goldy Brar” and “Sidhu Moose Wala” and found an article by India Today uploaded on 29th May, 2022 on titled ‘Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar claims responsibility for Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder’ which contained the picture of Goldy Brar, the gangster.

According to the article, Goldy Brar along with Lawrence Bishnoi had claimed responsibility for the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala in a Facebook post. The gangster claimed he had killed Sidhu Moose Wala to avenge the death of Vicky Middukhera.

Upon comparing the image in the article with the viral image, we found that the two images do not match.

Upon conducting a keyword search on Facebook, Newschecker found the Facebook profile of the person present in the viral image alongside Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann. 

Newschecker found that the person in the image is also named Goldy Brar which may have led to the confusion.

We also found a video posted on Facebook by Goldy Brar where he clarified “Some mischievous miscreants had posted my picture with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.” 

Goldy Brar further said that he is a resident of village Jandwala, tehsil Jalalabad, district Fazilka and demanded the administration to take stern action against the mischievous elements which linked him to the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala.

We also found the original image posted by Goldie Brar on March 10, 2022 after the victory of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Assembly elections, which is the image going viral now.

Newschecker spoke to Nav Kamboj, the brother of Goldy Brar seen in the viral image, who confirmed that the man seen in the viral image was his brother, and that the image was made viral with a false claim by mischievous elements. He further stated that he is a volunteer of Aam Aadmi Party and had helped Aam Aadmi Party in the Assembly elections.

We contacted Aam Aadmi Party Chief Spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang who told Newschecker that the claim was fake.

We also tried to contact SSP Fazilka about the viral claim. We will update our article once the contact is established.

Conclusion

Newschecker’s investigation reveals that the person seen with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is not Canada based gangster Goldy Brar who took responsibility for the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala but a resident of Fazilka who goes by the same name.

Result: False Context/False

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Authors

Vaibhav Bhujang

Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.