Pakistan-based social media posts falsely claimed Home Minister Amit Shah's name put on Interpol's ‘wanted list’
New Delhi: Multiple Pakistan-based social media users shared a graphic carrying the photo of Amit Shah, and claimed that the Interpol had added the Union Home Minister’s name to its ‘wanted list’ for allegedly approving attacks on ‘Canadian Sikh nationals’. However, the PTI Fact Check Desk found in its investigation that no such notice was issued by the Interpol. A fake graphic card was shared on social media with a false claim.
The claim went viral amid India’s strained diplomatic ties with Canada, and the latter’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison recently alleging that Shah ordered a campaign of violence, intimidation and intelligence-gathering targeting Sikh separatists inside Canada. New Delhi has vehemently rejected the references made by Morrison about Shah and warned that such "absurd and baseless" allegations will have serious consequences for bilateral ties.
Claim
A Pakistan-based Facebook page named ‘Khaber.tv’ shared on November 1 a graphic card and claimed that the Interpol had issued a wanted notice against Union Home Minister Amit Shah for allegedly approving a series of attacks on Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.
“Credible sources have informed that Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has recently been added to Interpol's wanted list. Shah is in hot waters after Canada’s Deputy Foreign Minister accused him of authorizing killing operations against Canadian Sikh nationals,” read the post.
Here is the link and archive link to the post and below is a screenshot of the same:
Investigation
Starting the investigation, the Desk ran the viral graphic card through Google Lens and found that it was shared by several other users with the same claim.
Three such posts can be seen here, here and here, and their archived versions can be viewed here, here and here, respectively.
The Desk then conducted a customised keyword search on Google, but could not find any credible report corroborating the viral claim. Had any such development taken place, it would have grabbed the headlines in both national and global media.
In the next part of investigation, the Desk tried to find Amit Shah's name through in the public red notice list of wanted persons on the official website of Interpol, but we did not find any such information in the list. Here is the link to the official website of Interpol and below is a screenshot of the same:
During its investigation, the Desk came across a report by Hindustan Times, published on November 2, whose headline read: “India dismisses Canada’s allegation against home minister Amit Shah as ‘absurd’.”Here is the link to the report:
In the next part of investigation, the Desk reached out to the BJP and the concerned ministry for their comments on the viral claim. The story shall be updated as and when a response is received.
Subsequently, the Desk concluded that the viral graphic card on the alleged Interpol notice is fake.
CLAIM
The Interpol issued a wanted notice against Union Home Minister Amit Shah for allegedly approving attacks on Sikh separatists in Canada.
FACT
The viral graphic card is fake. No such notice has been issued by the Interpol.
CONCLUSION
Multiple social media users shared a graphic card to claim that the Interpol had put Union Home Minister Amit Shah on its wanted list for allegedly approving plots to carry out attacks on Sikh separatists in Canada. However, the Desk in its investigation found the graphic card to be fake. The social media posts were shared with false claim.
