Image of former mayor Ivy in front of Dhanmondi 32 is AI-generated

A photograph purportedly showing former Narayanganj City Corporation mayor Dr Selina Hayat Ivy was recently circulated across several social media platforms. The claim accompanying the image states that, on the day after her release from prison, the former mayor went directly to Dhanmondi 32 to pay tribute to the memory of former President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. However, a fact-check by Dismislab found that the image was generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

On June 6, a Facebook page called Bengali Journal, which identifies itself as a news outlet, posted a photo card along with a report. The text on the card read, “Former mayor Ivy at the historic Dhanmondi 32 on the day after her release from prison.”

The image shows the damaged residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi 32, formerly known as the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum. Standing in front of the building is the recently released Dr Selina Hayat Ivy, making a victory sign with her fingers. By the time of writing, the post had been shared more than 200 times.

The report claims that this was the first public tribute paid in person by a senior leader of the Awami League since the party lost power in 2024. According to the report, Ivy told journalists and supporters present at the scene: “Destroying Dhanmondi 32 will never destroy the Bangladesh Awami League.” It further claimed that her visit and political remarks had generated widespread discussion on social media and throughout the country’s political sphere.

Another Facebook page, Bangladesh 2.0, shared the same image and wrote, “Immediately after securing bail, Selina Hayat Ivy, an ally of the autocratic regime, appeared at Dhanmondi 32 and effectively showed contempt toward the government and the July movement activists through her victory sign.” The post has been shared more than 150 times.

The image had first appeared on a Facebook account on June 5. The caption was nearly identical to the one later used by Bangladesh 2.0. It also claimed that Ivy told journalists present that the homes of those who had filed cases against her would meet the same fate as Dhanmondi 32.

The same image has also circulated on X (1, 2) and Instagram (1, 2) through multiple accounts. An X account named Revolt posted the image and wrote, “Thanks to the BNP government for serving the Awami League. BNP released Ivy, and immediately after her release she went to Dhanmondi 32 and flashed a victory sign.”

An examination of the image reveals several inconsistencies, including irregularities in lighting and shadows and abnormalities in the structure of the fingers. A Gemini logo is visible in the lower-right corner of the image. Such a watermark is commonly present on images edited using “Nano Banana,” an image-editing model associated with Google Assistant Gemini.

The image was analyzed using Gemini’s AI-detection tool, SynthID. When asked whether the image had been created using AI, the SynthID feature indicated that most or all of the image had been generated or edited using Google AI. Additional verification using the AI-detection tools AI or Not and Hive Moderation also found an almost certain likelihood (99.9 percent) that the image was AI-generated.

Meanwhile, the original photograph of Selina Hayat Ivy dates back to January 16, 2022, when she was elected mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation for a third term. The same photograph appeared in reports (1, 2) published by multiple news outlets at the time. Both those images and video reports from that day show her wearing the same clothing. The outfit, its color, and her pose all match the image recently circulated showing her in front of Dhanmondi 32.

In addition, no news organization has reported that Ivy visited Dhanmondi 32. On the contrary, media reports indicate that police intensified surveillance around her residence after she returned home. District police stated that they were monitoring the situation both to ensure her personal security and to ensure that she did not become involved in the activities of any banned organization or that others did not engage in provocative actions on her behalf.

Following her release on bail, Ivy publicly expressed gratitude toward the government, stating, “I hope a humane government can be built that includes everyone. There are many innocent mothers like me, and I hope the government will also show compassion toward them.” No other statement attributed to her has been reported by news outlets.

Therefore, the image being circulated with the claim that former mayor Dr Selina Hayat Ivy rushed to Dhanmondi 32 to pay tribute to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is an AI-generated fabrication.

All social media captions, quotations, and news excerpts in this article have been translated into English from the languages in which they were originally posted or published.

The original version of this fact-check report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on June 7, 2026. The English translation was completed later; however, to maintain time accuracy and avoid any potential misinterpretation, the English version has been published with the original publication date.