Old Poster Of Devendra Fadnavis Brandishing A Gun Falsely Linked To Baba Siddique Killing

A poster showing Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fnavis holding a gun has gone viral on social media. poster res "Revenge Complete" and users sharing it claimed it was put up after recent murder of NCP leer Baba Siddique.

PTI Fact Check Desk, however, found that viral image predated killing of Baba Siddique on October 12. In fact, controversial poster was put up in various parts of Mumbai by unknown individuals in September 2024, following encounter of Akshay Shinde, accused in Blapur sexual abuse case.

A user of microblogging platform X shared poster on October 15, writing, "A former minister, politician, and industrialist from Maharashtra has been murdered. After that, posters with photos of Maharashtra's Home Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fnavis , saying 'Revenge Complete', were put up across Mumbai. Does this mean Fnavis orchestrated murder? Can such a poster be put up all over city without his consent? What direction is country heing in? God save this country (sic)." This post has been viewed over 35,000 times, and number is increasing.

To verify claim, Fact Check Desk conducted a reverse search of viral image using Google Lens and found it in a news report published by some media house in September. 

report mentioned that after death of Shinde, who was accused of sexually abusing two girls in Blapur, in a police encounter, posters showing Fnavis holding a gun with caption "Revenge Complete" were put up overnight in areas such as Kherwi, Andheri, Lalbaug, and Sion in Mumbai.

Some posters were later removed by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), according to news article.

Google searches with relevant keywords also led Fact Check team to media reports on several media houses. se reports confirmed that such posters were put up by unknown individuals after Shinde's encounter in Mumbai, without any mention of a specific leer or party.

Siddique, also a former Maharashtra minister, was shot de outside office of his MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui on October 12. Lawrence Bishnoi gang reportedly claimed responsibility for murder.

As part of its investigation into viral image, PTI Fact Check Desk reached out to agency's Western Region editor Vilas Tokale, who confirmed that both images were from posters put up after encounter of Akshay Shinde, accused in Blapur sexual abuse case, and y were unrelated to Siddique's murder.

Based on findings so far, it is clear that viral poster predates Siddique's murder. Users are sharing an old image with a false claim on social media.