Fact Check: Photo Showing AAP MLA Standing With Delhi CM Attack Accused Is Edited

New Delhi (Vishvas News). On August 20, 2025, during a public hearing at her residence, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was attacked by a man who was later arrested.. It was revealed that the accused hails from Rajkot, Gujarat. Following this, a picture of Gujarat’s AAP MLA Gopal Italia standing with the accused is going viral on social media.

Vishvas News, in its investigation, found that the viral picture is edited. The viral image was created by taking a screenshot from a video of Gopal Italia and editing it. The edited image is now being shared with a misleading context.

What is going viral?

Facebook user ‘User Heera Lal’ shared the viral picture on August 21, 2025, with the caption, “Big Breaking Rajesh, who attacked Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, turned out to be an Aam Aadmi Party worker. The attacker is a friend of Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party’s former state president and MLA Gopal Italia. This attack is not a coincidence but a conspiracy of AAP!”

See the archive link of the post here.

Investigation

To verify the authenticity of the viral photo, we conducted a Google search using relevant keywords. We came across a report on Dainik Jagran’s website dated August 20, 2025. According to the report, “BJP MLA Harish Khurana shared the viral photo on his official X account and made several allegations against AAP leader Gopal Italia. Responding to Harish Khurana, Gopal Italia called the photo edited and the claim false.”

For further verification, we conducted a Google reverse image search and found the original video on the official Facebook account of Gopal Italia. The video uploaded on August 2, 2025, features someone standing with Italia. Also, the background resembles the viral video.

The difference between the two images is visible below.

During the investigation, we found a related post on Italia’s official X account, where he responded to BJP MLA Harish Khurana. In his reply, Italia denied the viral claim and wrote, “Harish Khurana ji, you do not respect yourself more than any troller, but before doing such a cheap act, you should have thought about the respect of your father, Madanlal ji? Would late Madanlal Khurana be very happy to see the exploits of you, who are of a level lower than even a small-time BJP leader, working at the rate of Rs 2 per tweet? What would he be thinking, seeing his son become a small-time troller? It is unfortunate for me that after becoming an MLA, I have to explain to cheap trolls like you, but still look at this; you have taken some screenshots from this old video of mine, edited it and posted fake photos. Despite being the son of the CM, you did not feel even a little ashamed of doing such a disgusting thing? I appeal to all the media not to run news without verifying the tweet of this small-time troller, Harish ji. I will be forced to take legal action.”

हरीश खुराना जी, आप की ख़ुद की तो किसी ट्रोलर से ज़्यादा इज्जत है नहीं लेकिन ऐसी घटिया हरकत करने से पहले अपने पिताजी मदनलाल जी की इज्जत की तो परवाह कर लेते?

दो रूपिये Per ट्वीट के हिसाब से काम कर रहे भाजपाई छुटभैये से भी निम्न स्तर के आप के कारनामे देखकर स्वर्गीय मदनलाल खुराना… https://t.co/KjeG09XACl

— Gopal Italia (@Gopal_Italia) August 20, 2025

Noticing the poor quality of the picture, we suspected it had been manipulated using AI. To verify, we ran checks using AI detection tools, including Photo Site Engine and D-Cop, both of which indicated that the photo was manipulated using AI.

For further clarification, we contacted AAP’s media coordinator, Ved Kumar, who confirmed that the photo was edited.

According to a report published on Dainik Bhaskar’s website on August 22, 2025, “Delhi CM Rekha was attacked by a man during a public hearing on 20 August at around 8.15 am. The accused pulled her hair and then slapped her. The accused is Rajeshbhai Khimji, a resident of Rajkot, Gujarat, who was immediately arrested. The accused has been sent on a five-day police remand. A case of attempted murder has been registered against him. Rajesh already has 5 cases registered against him in Gujarat, including stabbing. However, no weapon was found with him during the arrest. Intelligence Bureau and Delhi Police Special Cell are interrogating him.”

Lastly, we scanned the Facebook account of the user who shared the viral post with a false claim and found that the user described himself as a resident of Patna on his profile and has around 5000 followers. The user shares posts related to an ideology.

Conclusion: Vishvas News, in its investigation, found the viral photo to be edited. The image was created by taking a screenshot from a video of Italia and editing it, which is now being shared with a false claim.

Tags

• AAP
• Delhi CM Attack
• Delhi CM Attack Accused
• Delhi CM Rekha Gupta