Actor Sushant Singh Rajput died of suicide at his residence in Mumbai on Sunday, June 14. The 34-year-old’s sudden and unexpected death shocked the country.
Soon after the news of his death surfaced, netizens took to social media to express their sorrow.
Speculation surrounding his last moments and fake news about the reason of his death have been in circulation ever since the tragic incident. In one such case of misinformation, a Twitter account allegedly of the late actor’s father surfaced. A tweet from that account referred Rajput as his ‘son’ On July 2. The account went to demand a CBI probe into his death.
Below is a screenshot of the tweet:
The account had also tweeted similar messages on July 1.
The tweet from this account was propagated as a piece of news by Wire agency IANS on July 4.
In a tweet from their official account IANS claimed that Sushant Singh Rajput’s father demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigate his son’s death.
Below is a screenshot of the tweet from Wire agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS):
Following this, the story was picked up by other media outlets, reaffirming the tweet from the dubious account as news. The reports were all published On July 4 hours after the IANS tweet:
The New Indian Express:
Mathrubhumi:
Outlook:
Times of India:
National Herald:
These reports sourced the information to a Twitter account of Sushant’s father K.K. Singh through which he demanded justice for his son.
The Hindi language news channel, Aaj Tak did a broadcast on July 5, the next day, which showed these apparent tweets of K K Singh.
#SushantSinghRajput के मौत की CBI जाँच की हो रही मांग और पटना में लोगों में फूटा आक्रोश। #ATVideo pic.twitter.com/nmlOE2b8oO
— AajTak (@aajtak) July 5, 2020
‘Very soon I will file a petition in the Supreme Court for a CBI inquiry into Sushant’s death. If something happens to me tomorrow, how many people are with me? (Translated to English)’ read the tweet.
However, Aaj Tak did mention that the account could not be verified.
Claim:
Sushant Singh Rajput’s father demanded CBI to investigate his son’s death through his Twitter account.
Fact Check:
The claim is false. K K Singh does not have a Twitter account.
After the misinformation spread in the form of legitimate new report, news agency PTI reported that a source close to Rajput’s family has revealed that the late actor’s father does not have a Twitter account.
News Agency PTI reported that the source stated this while responding to the media reports claiming that he has demanded CBI inquiry into the late actor’s death on the Microblogging site.
‘He (Singh) has outrightly denied the existence of any such account and urged those behind such things to not create confusion in public,’ the family source was quoted as saying.
Therefore, the account was not his real account.
According to the source, the family has not released any statement related to Sushant Singh Rajput after June 27. On June 27, they announced initiatives to support aspiring talent in the field of cinema, sports and science.
Further, the family has also not given any media interviews or shared posts on social media.
Edited Bio Of Fake Account
Earlier the imposter account’s Bio read ‘Official Twitter Account K.K Singh. Father of Susant Singh Rajput’.
Below is a screenshot:
Later the bio was edited to read ‘unofficial & fan Twitter Account K.K Singh. Father of Susant Singh Rajput.’
Below is a screenshot:
IANS had earlier also fallen for fake accounts and turned misinformation into news, which The Logical Indian had debunked.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343
Also Read: Fact Check: Screenshots Of Fake Tweets Goes Viral As Last Message From Sushant Singh Rajput
