Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid has been released from Tihar jail on interim bail to campaign for J&K assembly elections. Lighthouse Journalism found a letter being shared on social media platforms on a BJP letterhead directing BJP workers to attend and support Abdul Rashid Sheikh (Engineer Rashid). During the investigation we found that the viral letter is fake.
Claim:
X user JKYNC MAGAM shared the viral letter on his handle.
Check the archive version of the post here.
Other users too are sharing the letter on their social media handles.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by running a reverse image search on the viral letter.
Through this we found a post on X handle of Ravinder Raina, Jammu and Kashmir, BJP President.
He stated that the letter was fake and no such order was issued from his office.
We also found a clarification on the X handle of BJP Jammu and Kashmir.
We also found a rebuttal on the Facebook page of The Kashmir Today.
We found a news report about the same on the website of Greater Kashmir.
The complaint, which led to the registration of the FIR at Rajbagh Police Station, alleges that the counterfeit letter was created on a fake letterhead purportedly belonging to Raina
We found that the letterhead of BJP’s Ravinder Raina is available online and one of these could have been used to share the edited letter.
Conclusion: BJP did not issue a letter asking to support Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid (Engineer Rashid), following his release from Tihar jail. The viral letter is fake.
