Actor Sushant Singh Rajput allegedly died of suicide at his residence in Mumbai's Bandra on Sunday, June 14. The 34-year-old's sudden and unexpected death has come as a shock to the country.
Soon after the news of his death surfaced, netizens took to social media to express their sorrow. Social media is flooded by his industry colleagues, politicians, sportspersons and the actor's fans expressing grief at his unfortunate demise.
One such message apparently from Rahul Gandhi, former president of the Indian National Congress has been doing the rounds on social media platforms.
A screenshot of this tweet reads, "I am sorry to hear about the passing of #SushantSinghRajput. A young & talented Cricketer, gone too soon. My condolences to his family, friends & fans across the world."
It is being claimed that the Congress MP apparently addressed the actor as a 'cricketer'.
The Logical Indian received a request on the Fact Check number to authenticate the viral screenshot of the tweet.
Rahul Gandhi is also in pain, due to the demise of Sushant Singh.
— RAKESH GUPTA (@RakeshGuptajee) June 15, 2020
He addressed him a talented cricketer. pic.twitter.com/xIr7FXhB91
First he said cricketer pic.twitter.com/EnE1IZmfs4— SHRESTH AGARWAL (@SHRESTH12052007) June 15, 2020Rahul Gandhi says he was a cricketer? https://t.co/ylVWk7aSLi
— Jagdish Sultania (@JagdishSultani5) June 15, 2020
Rahul Gandhi has a different take. He knows #shushantsingrajput as a cricketer. pic.twitter.com/jEFKP1Sttz
— H.D.Dubey. (@HDDubey9) June 15, 2020
Claim:
In his condolence tweet on the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, Rahul Gandhi addressed the actor as a 'cricketer'.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
Rahul Gandhi had expressed his condolences on June 14 at 7: 31 PM. The original tweet does not say what the viral screenshot claims. He had addressed Rajput as a 'young & talented actor'.
Below is his original tweet:
I am sorry to hear about the passing of #SushantSinghRajput. A young & talented actor, gone too soon. My condolences to his family, friends & fans across the world.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 14, 2020
Below is a comparison of the screenshots of the Original (right) and Viral tweet (left):
From the comparison, it is clear that the two screenshots are identical except the part where the word ' actor' has been replaced with ' cricketer'
The timestamps are also the same.
It is noteworthy that even if Rahul Gandhi had written "cricketer" and re-posted his tweet after deleting the earlier one, there would have been a difference of at least a minute.
Therefore it is clear that the viral screenshot of the tweet is morphed.
Earlier also The Logical Indian had debunked a similar morphed tweet attributed to Gandhi.
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