Altered Image Of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra With Akhilesh Yadav Going Viral.

Recently, YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra from Hisar, Haryana, has been arrested for allegedly sharing sensitive information and being in continuous contact with a Pakistani citizen. Against this backdrop, an image allegedly showing Jyoti Malhotra with the Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav went viral on social media. Sharing the image, users wrote, “Friends, what is this traitor Jyoti Spy doing with Samajwadi Party Supremo”.

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However, as we investigated, we came to know that the image had been altered. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search. This led us to a report published on the Times of India on 23 January 2017. We found an image similar to the viral one in the report, but the woman beside Akhilesh Yadav, seen in the image, was Dimple Yadav, not Jyoti Malhotra. The image was taken during the Samajwadi party election manifesto release event in Lucknow on 22 January 2017.

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We found the same image in a report published on NDTV on 22 January 2017.

Similar reports can be read here and here.

A comparison between the viral image and the original image can be seen below.

This makes it clear that the viral image has been edited. 

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the image has been altered. YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra’s face has been edited in the viral image. In the original image, Akhilesh Yadav can be seen with his wife Dimple Yadav during the Samajwadi Party’s election manifesto release event in 2017.