DigitEye India Fact Checkers
Some viral images have surfaced on social media showing ammunition in an apple bag with a claim that a Congress leader of Assam was smuggling them and plotting an attack on Hindus in Assam.
#कोंग्रेस_आतंकियों_के_साथ☹️
असम का कोंग्रेसी नेता #अमजत_अली सेब की पेटी में हथियार और गोलियों के साथ हिरासत में लिया गया।
हिंदुओ से भाईचारा निभाने का प्लान था बस #हेमंता_विश्वाशर्मा की पुलिस ने सब गुड़ गोबर कर दिया? pic.twitter.com/naFALjjZvL— Ashok Tyagi (@AshokTy64282289) September 8, 2021
the caption of the images said,”#कोंग्रेस_आतंकियों_के_साथ असम का कोंग्रेसी नेता #अमजत_अली सेब की पेटी में हथियार और गोलियों के साथ हिरासत में लिया गया। हिंदुओ से भाईचारा निभाने का प्लान था बस #हेमंता_विश्वाशर्मा की पुलिस ने सब गुड़ गोबर कर दिया.” (Congress with terrorists. Assam’s Congress leader Amjat Ali was detained with arms and ammunition in an apple box. There was a plan to target Hindu brotherhood but the police under #Hemanta_Vishwasharma spoiled their plans.)
In one image, a man was seen handcuffed along by the police and in the other an apple box with bullets and other weapons was visible. Further, the claim named Congress leader Amjat Ali as the one who has been arrested for carrying them in an apple box in Assam.
कोंग्रेस आतंकियों के साथ
असम का कोंग्रेसी नेता अमजत अली सेब की पेटी में हथियार और गोलियों के साथ हिरासत में लिया गया
हिंदुओ से भाईचारा निभाने का प्लान था बस हेमंता विश्वाशर्मा की पुलिस ने सब गुड़ गोबर कर दिया?— Bunty Verma (@inderveshverma) September 7, 2021
FACT CHECK
At the first glance, we can make out that the first image shows police officials in blue uniform, whereas Indian police uniform is Khaki in colour or white in West Bengal. Moreover, we found no news report of any such leader in Assam being arrested.
When searched for the image in Google reverse image search, we found a blogpost from Bangladesh dated 6th May 2018 related to the arrest of a 28-year-old school teacher in Bangladesh on charges of raping a minor girl. Here’s a link to the image. The news report stated that a school girl committed suicide at her home in Trishal, Mymensingh district, Bangladesh, after sexual harassment by local Madrasa teacher named Mubarak Hossain.
In fact, the same claim appeared in 2020 ahead of the Assembly state assembly elections and was debunked by fact checkers immediately. Now, the same claim and images reappeared on September 7, 2021 in social media messages shared by many on Twitter and Facebook.
Coming to the second image showing apples and ammunition in a bag, it was found to be an entirely different story reported from Kashmir. Free Press Kashmir reported in 2018 that three terrorists were arrested by Jammu & Kashmir police after a shootout near the Srinagar-Baramulla highway, Narbal.
After an exchange of fire, three terrorists were arrested and a search revealed that they had hidden ammunition and hand grenades beneath the apples in boxes. Here, the second image was used alongwith the report. The image was also uploaded by J&K police on their Twitter platform along with the details of the incident.
See the official Twitter handle of Jammu and Kashmir Police using the image on October 29, 2018:
A brief exchange of fire on the outskirts of Srinagar city. Three suspected militants arrested among them one is injured.Arms and ammunition recovered. Investigations started. pic.twitter.com/lT9AoRnu5H
— J&K Police (@JmuKmrPolice) October 29, 2018
Both the claim and the images are totally false.
Claim: Assam leader Amjat Ali arrested for smuggling arms and ammunition in apple boxes to attack Hindus.
Conclusion: No such leader was arrested in Assam and the images are wrongly used together.
Our rating: Totally False — 
