A screengrab of a TV news bulletin is doing rounds on social media with a claim that amid the new wave of coronavirus outbreak, Maharashtra government has announced a total lockdown in the state from March 1.
The text in the picture read, “Maharashtra will impose a strict 15-day lockdown across the state from March 1, 2021”
A Facebook user shared the post in Marathi with a caption, “लस आली आहे साहेब शेतकरी राजाच नुकसान करू नका”
(Translation: Vaccine has arrived, sir. Don’t harm farmers)
Find the link to the above post here. More posts here, here and here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim and found it to be FAKE.
Since the logo of TV9 Marathi is visible in the picture, we did a Reverse Image Search on the picture along with some keywords and found that the picture is taken from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey’s address dated March 22, 2020.
#BREAKING : कोरोना गुणाकार करतोय, आपण वजाबाकी करु, संकट गंभीर, पण सरकार खंबीर, तुम्ही खबरदारी घ्या आम्ही जबाबदारी – मुख्यमंत्री उद्धव ठाकरे pic.twitter.com/sPVbr40oCC
— TV9 Marathi (@TV9Marathi) March 22, 2020
On comparing both the screengrabs, it becomes clear that the text and the font of the text in both the pictures are different which proves that the picture in question is morphed.
Further, we looked for Thackrey’s latest video address and found the video on the verified Twitter handle of CMO Maharashtra dated February 21, 2021.
CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray addressing the state https://t.co/aU3H6umKzm
— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) February 21, 2021
In the address, the CM did not announce the lockdown but said the call for the same would be taken in the coming 8-15 days. Thackrey said, “Will there be a lockdown? I leave the answer to the people of Maharashtra. We will observe the situation for the next eight days”. He also added that a lockdown will have to be announced if the cases keep increasing.
In conclusion, the above information proves that while the surge in COVID-19 cases has led the Maharashtra government to put restrictions in certain areas but a statewide lockdown has not been announced by the government at the time of filing of this story.
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