Morphed photo used to spread false claims about Manipur students' death

Tensions recently flared in India’s troubled northeastern state of Manipur, after visuals of bodies of two Meitei students, who went missing on July 6, surfaced online.

Four people, including two women, were reportedly arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on October 1 for their alleged involvement in the abduction and murder of the students. Since May, when ethnic clashes first broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities, the state has witnessed more than 180 casualties, and thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes.

What is the claim?

On September 26, a user shared two images on Facebook linking the Meitei organization Arambai Tengol with the incident. In one of the images, a man wearing a black t-shirt and holding a gun and a water bottle can be seen seated behind the two students. The other image is a screenshot of a post purportedly by a Facebook page 'Eramdam E-pao.’ Sharing the images, the user wrote, “The two teenager was killed by Arambai Tengol after their video viral. Proof : the man who wear black shirt holding water bottle & gun was Meetei Arambai Tengol Source: Eramdam E-Pao Meitei Facebook page (sic.)” The archived link can be seen here.

Screenshot of the Facebook post. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts) 

However, the image has been digitally altered and the image of the screenshot of ‘Eramdam E-pao’ was taken from a copycat Facebook account masquerading as the more popular Meitei-affiliated page.

What did we find?

A closer look at the image hints that it is a digitally edited image. The foreground, showing the students, is taken from the viral photo that triggered unrest in the state after it surfaced recently. The original photo of the Meitei students, used by various media outlets, clearly shows two men holding guns in the background. 

Comparison of the viral image with the original photo shared by News9 on X. (Source: Facebook (L)/X(R)/Screenshots/Modified by Logically Facts)

Moreover, in the post's comment section, we noticed that multiple users had shared the photo of the person wearing the black t-shirt. We ran a reverse image search and found that it was originally shared by a Facebook user named Korounganba Khuman on June 22, 2020. The text in the caption reads, “Jobs will fill your wallet but Adventures will fill your souls.........Samuk khul (Kounu emagi masaikol) yaifare {Humang +Nong} (sic.)”

Comparison of the viral image(L) with the original photo of Korounganba Khuman(R). (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

This clearly shows that the photo of the two Meitei students has been cropped from the original image and digitally inserted into the photo posted in June 2020. 

We looked into the user's Facebook profile and found several photos and videos of him with other members of Arambai Tenggol. Similar photos and videos showing members Arambai Tenggol can be seen on the organization’s Facebook page as well. Arambai Tenggol is a Meitei organization in Manipur, of which Khuman is claims to be a self-styled commander.

We also found that the image of the screenshot of ‘Eramdam E-pao’ showing photos of the students with the caption “Honor Killing in Manipur: Hijam Linthoinganbi & Phijam Hemanjit a teenagers iloped on 06 June 2023, their hopes and dreams shattered and killed by Arambai Tenggol(sic.)” does not originate from the authentic and popular ‘Eramdam E-pao’ Facebook page, which was created on February 27, 2019, and has over 2,04,000 followers.

It was actually posted on a copycat Facebook page of the same name on September 26; the page itself was created on September 7, 2023, and has only 986 followers, and refuted by the original page on September 27. The original ‘Eramdam E-pao’ page also called out the other post as fake on September 27.

Moreover, no reports published at the time of writing this story suggests Arambai Tenggol’s involvement in the alleged murder case. The four persons arrested in connection with the incident are Paominlun Haokip, S. Malsawm Haokip, Lhingneichong Baite, and Tinneilhing Henthang, who are reportedly all Kukis. They have been taken to Guwahati by a special flight and their arrests have triggered protests by Kuki-Zomi organizations, who have termed it an “abduction."

The verdict

The post uses a digitally manipulated image and screenshot of a fake Facebook profile to link Arambai Tenggol with the disappearence and killing of the Meitei students. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.