A video showing television news anchor Rajat Sharma talking about the death of Dr Bimal Chhajer is being circulated to claim that the latter died in a car explosion after he spoke against pharmaceutical companies.
What are users claiming?: Those sharing the video have captioned it saying, "Shocking News* very sad. Dr Bimal Chhajer who went against allopathy treatment for HEART BYPASS SURGERY."
An archive of the post can be found hereT.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
What are the facts?: The video has been manipulated using the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to make the viral claim.
The original video dates back to 2 October and shows Sharma talking about Israel.
Dr Chhajer, too, released a video clarifying the viral clip is fake.
What led us to the truth?: We went through the official YouTube channel to find the reality behind Sharma's portion in the viral clip.
This led us to a live stream posted on the channel on 2 October, which showed Sharma wearing the same attire.
Its title when translated to English said, "Aaj Ki Baat Live: Israel declares... will take revenge... will choose the time and method ourselves | Israel Iran War Update."
What about the police statement?: Taking the help of Google Lens, we performed a reverse image search to find the source of the policeman's statement seen in the viral clip.
The original clip showed Inspector General of Police Kashmir Range, VK Birdi, talking about the Kulgam encounter that took place in the state.
It was posted on the official X handle of All India Radio News on 28 September.
Details about Dr Chhajer's portion in the viral video: Team WebQoof conducted a keyword search with the doctor's name on YouTube and found a video on a verified channel named 'GetsetflySCIENCE by Gaurav Thakur'.
It showed Dr Chhajer wearing the same outfit as seen in the viral clip. The background in both clips had similarities as well.
The video was posted with a caption that said, "Do This to CLEAN Cholesterol in 3 Months | Prevent Heart Attack - Dr. Bimal Chhajer | GT Show."
It was uploaded on 20 July.
Dr Chhajer debunks the viral clip: On performing another round of keyword search in Hindi, we came across a video of the doctor clarifying that the viral clip is fake and has been manipulated.
This video was shared on 18 October with a title that loosely translated to, "Beware of fake videos! The rumor of a blast in my car is fake | Fake Alert | Dr Bimal Chhajer | SAAOL."
What did detection tools say?: Team WebQoof passed the viral video through AI detection tool 'TrueMedia', which showed that there was substantial evidence to prove that it had been manipulated.
The tool showed that there was a substantial evidence of manipulation.
(Source: TrueMedia/Screenshot)
Conclusion: Evidently, the video has been manipulated to claim that Dr Bimal Chhajer has passed away.
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