Viral photo of broken train wheel falsely presented as Bangladesh’s
A picture of a broken train wheel has gone viral on social media platform Facebook. It was claimed to be an image of a Bangladeshi train wheel that had been purchased from India. However, verification reveals that the picture is not of a Bangladeshi train wheel. The original image is of a locomotive wheel from a domestic freight train in India.
Several Facebook pages (1, 2, 3), groups (1, 2, 3) and personal profiles (1, 2, 3) have shared this image. One page posted the picture with the caption, “Look at the condition of the train coach wheels bought from sympathetic India? India is trying to swallow our country.” The hashtags ‘Boycott India, Boycott Indian Products’ were used In the caption.
Additionally, a Facebook group named ‘Boycott Indian Products’ shared the photo with the caption, “Train coach wheel purchased from India. And the country’s money will be wasted like this? How much?” One user commented on the post, “The vehicles sold to our country from India are mostly used. They are refurbished and then sold to us.”
The image was also shared from multiple personal Facebook profiles (1, 2, 3). The caption reads “Train coach wheels purchased from India (Sharif Melamine).” With this same caption, many people shared the picture, mistakenly believing it to be from Bangladesh.
To verify the authenticity of the image, an online reverse image search found the exact same image on a verified account on X (formerly Twitter). The English caption states that the photo was taken in Asansol, West Bengal, India. The caption reads: “Shocking! Wheel of freight train locomotive breaks into two. Fourth wheel of first engine (41051). Train was going from Durgapur Steel Plant to Baktarnagar. Incident in Asansol division of Eastern Railway. Train movement on main line not affected, no injuries.”
On May 30, a verified X profile named Rajendra B. Aklekar posted this on social media. The user identifies himself as a journalist for the Indian media ‘mid_day’ in his profile details. Additionally, he has written several books on India’s rail history and heritage. Upon verification, Rajendra B. Aklekar’s Author Profile was found in Mid Day’s online portal.
Therefore, the viral images of the broken train wheel on Facebook are not actually of a Bangladeshi train wheel bought from India. The image is of a broken engine wheel from an Indian freight train. Two separate photos taken by this journalist named Aklekar are being shared together with the caption ‘Boycott India’ claiming that the train belongs to Bangladesh.
Since the beginning of this year, a campaign called ‘Boycott India’ has gone viral on the social media in Bangladesh. According to a report by BBC Bangla, many people joined the ‘#Indiaout’ campaign on social media immediately after the 12th national elections of Bangladesh held on January 7 this year. The report states that these campaigns are also calling for a boycott of Indian products.Several fact-checking organizations in Bangladesh have published reports on misinformation regarding the boycott of Indian products. In one incident, a manipulated photocard of a Bangladeshi media outlet was posted on social media, claiming that advertisements for boycotting Indian products were displayed on Burj Khalifa in Dubai. However, reports from multiple fact-checking (1, 2) organizations proved this to be baseless. Another piece of misinformation claimed that 57 countries around the world have boycotted India. This claim was also proven false by Bangladeshi fact-checking organization.
