Fact-Check: Old Visuals Incorrectly Linked To Recent Violence in Manipur

These visuals are from Manipur but date back to 2016.

Three photos showing vehicles on fire are being shared on social media, where users are linking it to the violence between the Kuki and Meitei communities in Manipur.

The Leaflet, a news outlet also shared the photo linking it to the recent protests.

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here, here and here.)

The truth: These images date back to 2016 when Manipur witnessed violent protests over economic blockade imposed by United Naga Council (UNC).

How did we find out the truth?: We performed reverse image search on these images and came across reports from 2016.

IMAGE 1:

• We found several reports from news outlets like Hindustan Times, ABP Live, The Economic Times which carried the same photo.

• These articles stated about the violence that took place in Manipur on 18 December, 2016 after an economic blockade was imposed by several Naga tribal groups in the state.

• This blockade was initiated by the Naga groups to protest against the state government's decision to create seven new districts in the state.

• We also found this image on news agency Agence France-Presse's (AFP) photo archive.

• The image was uploaded on 18 December 2016 and showed vehicles burning in Manipur's Imphal.

IMAGE 2: 

• We came across reports by NDTV and India Today carrying the viral photo.

• The article reported about the violent protests in Manipur which took place in December 2016.

• The report by NDTV also mentioned that several cars and a bus was burnt down in Manipur protests.

(Note: Swipe to see screenshots of old reports.)

IMAGE 3:

• This image of a burning bus also dates back to December 2016 when Manipur was witnessing protests over economic blockade.

• We came across old reports by The Quint, The Indian Express and ABP Live which carried the same photo of the bus.

• We also found this image on news agency Agence France-Presse's (AFP) photo archive and was shared on 18 December 2016.

• The caption read that it showed a bus on fire amidst the violent protests in Manipur.

Conclusion: These images from protests that happened in Manipur in December 2016 are being falsely linked with the recent protests in the same state.

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