Fact Check: Photo-shopped Text ‘420’ On A Football Jersey Held By PM Modi

Recently on various Twitter handles, a fake image is being shared. It shows PM Modi holding a football jersey displaying team number as ‘420’, implying that he is a cheat & a fraudster.

WhatsApp Message Text:

“जिसने यह टी शर्ट बनाया और नंबर चूज किया है उसे 121 तोपों की बेहतरीन सलामी !!

सही टी शर्ट दिया है। #Modi420”

English Translation:

“Whomsoever made this t-shirt and chose the number, that person needs to be given a ‘21’ gunshot’s salute. It’s absolutely the correct shirt given (to PM Modi). #Modi420”

NARRATIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

These types of messages are being shared by people to create confusion in the minds of readers or to push forward a specific confirmation bias or sometimes just in satire. This kind of message has been shared on Twitter with #modi420, few examples are shown below:

OUR FACT CHECK

Fact Crescendo team did a fact check on this issue. We did Google Reverse Image search & also researched various Twitter handles to see who were sharing and commenting on this fake picture.

We found the following:

• This fake picture has been shared around on Twitter for past few days and is slowly gaining traction.
• This manipulated image is trying to push forward a narrative that PM Modi is a ‘420’, which colloquially in India, represents a cheat & a fraudster. It also colloquially refers to Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with “Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property”.
• The original image was taken when President of FIFA Gianni Infantino presented the football jersey to PM Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of G20 Summit, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 
  Source: Twitter | Narendra Modi
  • PM Narendra Modi shared the image of himself receiving the football jersey with number ‘G 20’ written on it from President of FIFA Gianni Infantino, on Twitter on 1^st December:

• Various news media sites also reported this actual event:
  Indiatoday
  NDTV
  Indiatimes
  The Hindu
  Economictimes

Our readers, themselves can easily see the difference between the original and photo-shopped picture:

IN CONCLUSION

Fact Crescendo team tags these kinds of pictures as Fake and Manipulated. These kinds of manipulated images will be shared across by many people using WhatsApp and other social media applications again & again. But we as readers should be aware of the reality of these kinds of pictures, as to what they really are – just Fake.

Fact Crescendo advises its readers to refrain from falling prey to unsubstantiated & misleading WhatsApp forwards and social media posts. When in doubt, visit various news media & fact checking websites online.

Dear Readers,

Do you feel that a certain story is fake? Do you know some additional factual details about a claim being shared on social media?

Then you can submit that claim or news here, for our team to verify and fact check for you.

Thanks,

-Fact Crescendo Team-