Photo From Rohingya Camp Fire in Delhi Falsely Shared as One From Tripura

The photo was taken earlier this year, when a Rohingya refugee camp caught fire in Delhi's Kalindi Kunj.

A photograph of two men holding a pile of burnt and damaged books is being widely shared by social media users, who claim that it shows recent visuals from Tripura amid communal violence in parts of the state.

But we found that the photograph was taken earlier this year in June, when a fire razed a Rohingya refugee camp near Delhi's Kalindi Kunj. The picture was taken by photojournalist Md Meharban who confirmed to The Quint that the photograph was from June 2021.

CLAIM

The picture is being shared widely across social media, claiming that shows recent visuals from Tripura amid riots in the state.

More claims on social media platforms can be seen here, here, here and here.

The Quint received the claim for verification on its WhatsApp tipline as well.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We ran the photo through Google's reverse image search, which led us to posts from June this year. The photo was shared along with a few others in a Twitter thread, which shared details of a fire in Delhi's Rohingya refugee camps.

Taking a cue from this, we searched social media platforms for more information with keywords such as 'Delhi Rohingya camp fire'.

The search led us to a Facebook post by user Azad Subhani, who noted that the photograph was from June and mentioned the photographer's name, Md Meherban, providing a link the when the picture was first uploaded.

We then reached out to Md Meherban, the photographer mentioned in the post. Speaking to The Quint, Meherban confirmed that the photo was taken in Delhi.

"I took this photo on intervening night of 12 and 13 June after midnight, at the Rohingya refugee camp that caught fire in Kanchan Kunj. A part of a mosque was also on fire, and a few Qurans were there. The photo shows people bringing out the Qurans after the fire died down."

Md Meherban, Photojournalist

We also checked news report about the incident and found an article published on Al Jazeera. The report said that 55 temporary shelters were destroyed in the fire that took place in the Rohingya camp in Madanpur Khadar, present in South Delhi's Kalindi Kunj area. The Quint also did a ground report on the incident the following day and documented the aftermath of the fire.

Evidently, a photo following a fire at a Rohingya refugee camp in Delhi was shared as one from Tripura, amid communal violence in the state.

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