Retired Captain PPS Dhillon’s picture shared as injured farmer during protest

Due to the ongoing farmer’s protest against the Farmer’s Bill in the country, many videos and photos have been going viral on social media platforms. Fact Crescendo has debunked similar viral content in the past as well. Amidst this two photos showing turban cladded men went viral. The first image shows a green turban cladded army man and second picture shows a wounded turban cladded man. The photos are going viral with the claim that both the men in the images are of the same person. According to the viral post, the army officer Captain PPS Dhillon is a retired officer from the Sikh Regiment (Indian Army) who was beaten up during the ongoing farmer’s protest.

The title of the viral post reads, “Captain PPS Dhillon, who retired from the Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army, would never have imagined that when he would raise his voice in the role of a farmer, the BJP’s I.T. The cell samples would call them philanthropists and terrorists. Shame on you devotees! Do not discredit a brave son. “

Facebook Post | Archive Link 

Fact Check- 

We started our investigation by running a Google Reverse image of the pictures going viral, which led us to a Facebook post in which had the same photo of the Army officer. The caption of the post mentions that “Today is my father’s birthday, Hon. Captain Pirthipal Singh Dhillon retired in 1993, 17 Sikh Regiment. He is one of the soldiers who fought in 1965, 1971 and 1989–90 (Sri Lanka). God bless you.”

 The image was posted on the Facebook page of Sikh Military History Forum and the person who has published the viral picture is named Sukhwinder Singh Sarpanch Uboke who claimed to be the son of Captain Pirthipal Singh Dhillon.

Facebook | Archive link

Fact Crescendo contacted Sukhwinder Singh, who confirmed us that the man in the image is his father, we said “The man in the viral post is my father who is an Indian Army soldier, Captain Pirthipal Singh Dhillon. He is a retired army officer. He has no relation with the elderly person seen in the second picture in the post going viral. My father is at home, he has not joined the present-day farmer movement. I have also contacted the grandson of the farmer elder seen in the picture due to the viral post.”

Sukhwinder Singh is the sarpanch of Uboke which is located in Patti town of Tarn Taran district of Punjab. He has also provided us a video of his father’s Captain Pirthipal Dhillon’s birthday celebration.

Fact Crescendo contacted Tejpal Singh Ottal, the grandson of the old farmer seen in the picture going viral, he told us, “The old farmer seen in the picture going viral is my grandfather, the wounded man in the second picture is my grandfather who is a farmer. Social media users are mistaken because both the men in the images have a similar face but they are two different person. My grandfather had joined the ongoing farmer’s movement and I too have participated in this movement with them. My grandfather got hurt in the encounters with the police on the Shambhu border of Haryana and Punjab. Since he got wounded in the process and his eyes are covered with stitches I have sent him back home.”

Tejpal Singh Ottal has also provided us a video of his grandfather whose name is S. Balwant Singh Ottal. In this video, where he mention’s about how he got hurt.

Conclusion: Fact Crescendo found that the above claim to be false. The person seen in the pictures are two different persons. One is an Indian Army retired officer and the other is a farmer. These two have no relation with each other.