Poster of Devendra Fadnavis with a gun falsely linked to Baba Siddique’s murder

What is the claim?

A red poster depicting Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis holding a gun has circulated on social media, claiming it was displayed following the murder of senior politician Baba Siddique, who was shot dead on October 12.

The poster features the phrase 'Badla pura' (revenge completed) and was shared by Aam Aadmi Party member Naresh Balyan on X (formerly Twitter). He captioned the post: “A former minister of the Maharashtra government, a politician, and an industrialist were murdered. Following that, posters of Maharashtra's Home Minister and @Dev_Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister, were put up all over Mumbai, saying, ‘Revenge is complete.’ What does this imply? Did Fadnavis orchestrate this murder? Can such posters of a Home Minister and Deputy Chief Minister be displayed throughout the city without his permission? (translated from Hindi)." Similar claims can be viewed here and here. 

Screenshots of the viral claims. (Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

Siddique, 66, was a senior member of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Ajit Pawar faction and was shot dead on October 12 outside his son Zeeshan’s office in the Bandra suburb of Mumbai. The Mumbai police have arrested four people in connection with the murder, which occurred weeks before the state’s legislative Assembly elections. Additionally, Fadnavis, who also oversees the state's Home Department, is facing criticism regarding law and order in the state.

However, we found that the now-viral posters of Fadnavis are unrelated to Siddique’s recent murder and were actually displayed before the politician was shot.

 What we found 

A reverse image search led us to a Hindustan Times report dated September 26, 2024, stating that the posters were installed by unidentified individuals across Mumbai after the main suspect in the Badlapur sexual assault case was killed in a police “encounter.”

The image featured in the viral post was credited to Hindustan Times photographer Raju Shinde. The report noted that it was unclear who had put up the posters, but some had been removed by civic authorities.

Reports indicate that Akshay Shinde, who was in police custody and charged with the murder of two minors in the Badlapur area of Mumbai, was shot dead on September 24, 2024, after he allegedly snatched a gun from police officers escorting him and attempted to fire at them.

The now-viral image is attributed to Hindustan Times photographer Raju Shinde and is dated September 25, 2024. (Source: Hindustan Times)

The slogan 'Badla Pura' is a wordplay on Badlapur. Reports from NDTV, IndiaTV News, Zee 24, and ABP News, dated September 25, 2024, also published the poster in their reports, stating that the posters appeared in several areas of Mumbai celebrating the police encounter.

This confirms that the posters were installed in September, weeks before Siddique was shot dead.

The verdict 

The posters of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were displayed after the police shot dead the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case and were falsely linked to the murder of politician Baba Siddique.