#FactCheck - Viral Photos Falsely Linked to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's Helicopter Crash
Executive Summary:
On 20th May, 2024, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and several others died in a helicopter crash that occurred northwest of Iran. The images circulated on social media claiming to show the crash site, are found to be false. CyberPeace Research Team’s investigation revealed that these images show the wreckage of a training plane crash in Iran's Mazandaran province in 2019 or 2020. Reverse image searches and confirmations from Tehran-based Rokna Press and Ten News verified that the viral images originated from an incident involving a police force's two-seater training plane, not the recent helicopter crash.
Claims:
The images circulating on social media claim to show the site of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crash.
Fact Check:
After receiving the posts, we reverse-searched each of the images and found a link to the 2020 Air Crash incident, except for the blue plane that can be seen in the viral image. We found a website where they uploaded the viral plane crash images on April 22, 2020.
According to the website, a police training plane crashed in the forests of Mazandaran, Swan Motel. We also found the images on another Iran News media outlet named, ‘Ten News’.
The Photos uploaded on to this website were posted in May 2019. The news reads, “A training plane that was flying from Bisheh Kolah to Tehran. The wreckage of the plane was found near Salman Shahr in the area of Qila Kala Abbas Abad.”
Hence, we concluded that the recent viral photos are not of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's Chopper Crash, It’s false and Misleading.
Conclusion:
The images being shared on social media as evidence of the helicopter crash involving Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi are incorrectly shown. They actually show the aftermath of a training plane crash that occurred in Mazandaran province in 2019 or 2020 which is uncertain. This has been confirmed through reverse image searches that traced the images back to their original publication by Rokna Press and Ten News. Consequently, the claim that these images are from the site of President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter crash is false and Misleading.
- Claim: Viral images of Iranian President Raisi's fatal chopper crash.
- Claimed on: X (Formerly known as Twitter), YouTube, Instagram
- Fact Check: Fake & Misleading
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Executive Summary
A video is being widely circulated on social media by Pakistani users as propaganda against the Indian Army. In the video, a man can be seen being beaten by a group of women in the middle of a road. Based on the viral video, it is being claimed that in Phuket, Thailand, Lieutenant General Rajiv Kiran Sahni, DG EME of the Indian Army, was thrashed by "ladyboys" after he allegedly harassed them and refused to pay the full amount.
Research by the CyberPeace Research Wing found the viral claim to be misleading and baseless. The viral video has no connection with Lieutenant General Rajiv Kiran Sahni (DG EME) of the Indian Army. According to credible media reports obtained during the research, this incident took place in Pattaya, Thailand, in December 2025, where a dispute over payment allegedly broke out between an Indian tourist named Raj Jasuja and some transgender women (ladyboys). Subsequently, the tourist was assaulted.
Claim:
A Pakistani website shared the viral video claiming that Indian Army Lieutenant General Rajiv Kiran Sahni (DG EME) was publicly thrashed in Phuket, Thailand, by ladyboys after he harassed them and refused to pay the full amount.
Meanwhile, on the social site X (formerly Twitter), a user shared the viral video and wrote, “Indian Army Lt Gen Rajiv Kiran Sahni, DG EME, thrashed by Thai ladyboys in Phuket after harassing them and refusing to pay full amount. They think they can bully and oppress people everywhere like Christians in Manipur, but Thailand showed them the reality.”
https://x.com/uthmanrumi2025/status/2061554209036898369
Fact Check:
To investigate the claim made with the viral video, we conducted a reverse search of the video's keyframes. During this process, we found a report by The Times of India. The report, published on January 4, 2026, stated that “According to 'The Thaiger', an Indian tourist was hospitalized in Pattaya, Thailand. It is alleged that a group of transgender women attacked him following a dispute over payment for escort services. The incident occurred on December 27, when rescue workers from the Sawang Boriboon Foundation received a call around 5:30 AM regarding an injured foreign tourist near the beachside entrance of Walking Street. According to the rescue workers who found the victim, he was identified as 52-year-old Indian national Raj Jasuja. Injury marks were clearly visible on his face and the back of his head. He was given first aid before being taken to the hospital for further treatment. A 19-year-old Thai witness, Pongpol Boonchid, told police and rescue workers that the fight began when Raj was seen arguing with a transgender sex worker near the entry gate of Walking Street. The row escalated as both began chasing and hitting each other. According to the witness, the transgender woman then called several of her friends, who arrived and collectively attacked the Indian tourist. It is believed the fight started over money, as the tourist reportedly did not pay the full amount agreed upon for the services. Raj has not made any public statement regarding the incident.”
Furthermore, another report by The Indian Express, published on January 5, 2026, stated regarding the incident: “A group of transgender women allegedly beat up an Indian tourist in Pattaya, Thailand, according to a local media report. The dispute reportedly arose over non-payment of fees for sex services. In a viral video from December 27, three transgender women are seen hitting the 52-year-old man with slippers. The situation worsened when the man refused to pay the requested amount and tried to leave the spot in a car. The transgender women accused the man of not paying. Subsequently, he was allegedly kicked and punched, after which emergency responders intervened. According to a report by 'The Thaiger', the man suffered injuries to his face and the back of his head. He was given first aid on the spot and later taken to Pattamaku Hospital for further treatment. A Thai eyewitness told rescue workers that he saw the man arguing with a transgender sex worker near the entrance of the famous 'Walking Street' area. The witness stated that the argument turned into a physical altercation, with both parties reportedly chasing and hitting each other, after which others joined in, turning it into a group attack. According to the report, the witness further claimed the dispute occurred because the Indian tourist allegedly did not pay the full amount fixed for sexual services. Thai police said they would ask the man to file a formal complaint once he fully recovers.”
Conclusion:
Our research found the viral claim to be misleading and baseless. The viral video has no connection with Lieutenant General Rajiv Kiran Sahni (DG EME) of the Indian Army. According to credible media reports, the incident occurred in Pattaya, Thailand, where in December 2025, an Indian tourist named Raj Jasuja had a dispute over payment with some transgender women (ladyboys), leading to the assault.
Executive Summary
A purported front page of The Hindu dated June 6, 1967, is being widely circulated on social media with the claim that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had urged Indians not to buy gold in any form and to follow “national discipline” by restricting gold consumption. The viral claim suggests that the appeal was part of the government’s efforts to conserve foreign exchange reserves, which were allegedly under severe pressure at the time. However, research conducted by CyberPeace Research Wing found the claim to be false. Our research revealed that the front page being circulated online is not authentic and has been digitally edited.
Claim
An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the viral newspaper clipping on May 12, 2026, and wrote:“In 1967, during a severe foreign exchange crisis, Indira Gandhi appealed to Indians not to buy gold.From ‘skip one meal’ to ‘don’t buy gold,’ Congress-era governance normalized shortages, restrictions, and sacrifice, while ordinary citizens paid the price for failed economic policies.”
Research
To verify the claim, we examined the official social media accounts of The Hindu. During the research, we found a post published on the publication’s official X account on May 12, 2026, clarifying that the viral image claiming to be the June 6, 1967 front page of The Hindu was digitally altered and not part of its official archives. The newspaper also urged readers to verify information carefully before sharing it online.
We also found an X post by B Kolappan, a journalist with The Hindu, who shared the original front page of the newspaper dated June 6, 1967, further exposing the viral image as fake.
For context, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a public gathering on May 10, 2026, spoke about the possible economic impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and advised people to avoid buying gold for a year, even during weddings or family functions. The viral claim appears to have resurfaced in this backdrop.
Conclusion
Our research found that the alleged 1967 front page of The Hindu circulating on social media is digitally edited and fake. There is no evidence that the viral newspaper page is authentic or part of The Hindu’s archival records.
Executive Summary
A dramatic video showing several people jumping from the upper floors of a building into what appears to be thick snow has been circulating on social media, with users claiming that it captures a real incident in Russia during heavy snowfall. In the footage, individuals can be seen leaping one after another from a multi-storey structure onto a snow-covered surface below, eliciting reactions ranging from amusement to concern. The claim accompanying the video suggests that it depicts a reckless real-life episode in a snow-hit region of Russia.
A thorough analysis by CyberPeace confirmed that the video is not a real-world recording but an AI-generated creation. The footage exhibits multiple signs of synthetic media, including unnatural human movements, inconsistent physics, blurred or distorted edges, and a glossy, computer-rendered appearance. In some frames, a partial watermark from an AI video generation tool is visible. Further verification using the Hive Moderation AI-detection platform indicated that 98.7% of the video is AI-generated, confirming that the clip is entirely digitally created and does not depict any actual incident in Russia.
Claim:
The video was shared on social media by an X (formerly Twitter) user ‘Report Minds’ on January 25, claiming it showed a real-life event in Russia. The post caption read: "People jumping off from a building during serious snow in Russia. This is funny, how they jumped from a storey building. Those kids shouldn't be trying this. It's dangerous." Here is the link to the post, and below is a screenshot.
Fact Check:
The Desk used the InVid tool to extract keyframes from the viral video and conducted a reverse image search, which revealed multiple instances of the same video shared by other users with similar claims. Upon close visual examination, several anomalies were observed, including unnatural human movements, blurred and distorted sections, a glossy, digitally-rendered appearance, and a partially concealed logo of the AI video generation tool ‘Sora AI’ visible in certain frames. Screenshots highlighting these inconsistencies were captured during the research .
- https://x.com/DailyLoud/status/2015107152772297086?s=20
- https://x.com/75secondes/status/2015134928745164848?s=20
The video was analyzed on Hive Moderation, an AI-detection platform, which confirmed that 98.7% of the content is AI-generated.
The viral video showing people jumping off a building into snow, claimed to depict a real incident in Russia, is entirely AI-generated. Social media users who shared it presented the digitally created footage as if it were real, making the claim false and misleading.
