ClaimPhoto of Ayub Khan, a terrorist disguised as a monk arrested from Mahakumbh.

Fact
PRO of DIG Prayagraj clarified that no terrorist has been arrested from Kumbh.

Photo found to be AI generated.

A photograph, purportedly showing a man disguised as a Sadhu (monk) being arrested by police, has gone viral on social media platforms with users linking it to the ongoing Mahakumbh Mela in Prayagraj.

Multiple X and Facebook users claimed that the photo shows one "Ayub Khan," a "militant" who was arrested from Mahakumbh, further alleging, "he had come as a sadhu and mingled with our sadhus." Newschecker, however, found that the photo was AI generated, and does not show an actual incident and that no terrorist was arrested as was being claimed.

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Fact Check/Verification

On carefully analysing the viral photo, we found the hands of the police personnel and the accused appeared to be distorted. Further, the faces of the monks aboard a boat in the background were blurred too, indicating that the media could be AI generated.

We then checked the viral photo on multiple AI detection tools which showed a high probability of the media being AI generated. Hive Moderation detected a 94.6% likelihood that the photo contains AI-generated or deepfake content. Another image detector platform 'Was It AI' also concluded, "We are quite confident that this image, or significant part of it, was created by AI."

Screengrab from Hive Moderation website

Screengrab from Was It AI website

But Was A Militant, Disguised As A Monk, Arrested In Mahakumbh?

We did not find any credible reports stating that a "terrorist" who was impersonating a monk was arrested in Mahakumbh.

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However, a “suspicious” man named Ayub wasreportedly arrested from outside Yati Narsinghanand Giri's camp in Mahakumbh last week. He allegedly identified himself as 'Ayush,' and said that he came to meet the saint. After police interrogation, it was revealed that his name was 'Ayub Ali', resident of Aliganj in Uttar Pradesh's Etah. Ayub's relative said that he is a drug addict, and behaves like a mentally unstable person, reported Dainik Bhaskar.