An image of a man with PFI written on his back is widely circulated on social media. Many social media users claim that an Indian army soldier was brutally assaulted by a group of five to six people in Kerala’s Kollam, who allegedly wrote ‘PFI’ on his back with green paint.
It is to be noted that PFI (Popular Front of India) is a political organisation which was banned by the Central Government for five years on September 2022 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
A Facebook user shared the image and wrote: “An Army soldier on leave at his native place in Kollam, Kerala, has complained to the local police and his unit that he was attacked by 5-6 miscreants who, after the assault, wrote PFI on his back. The Indian Army is following up on the developments with the local police which is investigating the case.”
This Facebook post can be seen here.
Several media outlets like OpIndia, ANI, NDTV, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, etc. have also reported the same.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the claim, and found it to be false.
With an open keyword search, the NM team came across a report by Mathrubhumi.com, dated September 26, 2023, which mentions that the attack was plotted by the victim himself. The Kerala Police found that the complaint was fake and the soldier himself fabricated the attack to gain popularity. The cops have taken soldier Shine Kumar and his friend Joshy into custody.
According to the News Nine report, soldier Shine Kumar’s friend Joshy confessed to the police that Shine asked him to beat and drag him and paint ‘PFI’ on his back. “He said he wanted to become famous,” said Joshy. Police recovered the paint and the tape used to cover Shine’s face from the house of Joshy.
News agency ANI also carried a tweet statement from Additional SP for Kollam Rural, R Prathapan Nair. “He filed a complaint before the Kadakkal Police Station and during the course of investigation, it was revealed that his complaint was false. On the basis of that, he was arrested today and one of his friends was also arrested. He is an Army personnel and wanted national attention in this regard thinking that he will get something from this incident. He wanted to get a suitable posting…” In another tweet, the police can be seen escorting away soldier Shine Kumar and his friend Joshi.
#WATCH | Army personnel’s claim of allegedly being attacked in Kollam, Kerala | R Prathapan Nair, Addl SP, Kollam Rural says, “He filed a complaint before the Kadakkal Police Station and during the course of investigation, it was revealed that his complaint was false. On the… pic.twitter.com/yBAuZmRFC0
— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2023
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the attack on army personnel was staged by the victim himself and there was no role of PFI in this incident.
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