Fact Check: Video of Odisha Official Disrespecting National Flag Shared with False Claim

Jan 23, 2023, 16:54 IST

Amaravati: A video of the government official disrespecting the Indian National flag by using it to clean his desk is being circulated widely on social media with the claim that the the person in the video is a Deputy Registrar of Anantapur district who is showing his arrogance allegedly due to the backing of ruling YSR Congress Party.

The video was being shared by the Twitter users who identify themselves as followers of the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP). The video was being shared as part of TDP’s smear campaign against the ruling YSRCP government. The user who tweeted this video has also urged the social media users to widely share it to teach him a lesson.

The video is not from Anantapur, but Odisha. Many such misleading tweets/posts with the same video in Telugu Language has been identified and sent for further action.

Misleading post with fake narrative is a legal offence.

Link: https://t.co/5lMOI5BrPp https://t.co/ZCsPIEfNVD

— FactCheck.AP.Gov.in (@FactCheckAPGov) January 23, 2023

We started the fack-checking process with a regular Google search with keywords like Indian National Flag, Violation of Flag Code and disrespect of National Flag and it led us to the January 12 news article which identified the person in the video as a Panchayat executive officer in Odisha.

According to the news article, the person in the viral video is identified as Prashant Kumar Swain who is the executive officer (EO) of the Simili panchayat in Puri’s Gop block. The official has apologised and admitted his mistake for disrespecting the Indian National flag. He was also arrested by the police for violating the flag code of India.

#FactCheck The viral video is from Odisha. Later, the Executive Officer was arrested by the police for violating the flag code of India.

The below tweet is being sent for further action.

Article Link: https://t.co/5lMOI5BrPp https://t.co/6dGbWHzVEJ pic.twitter.com/fc9NwB2ie5

— FactCheck.AP.Gov.in (@FactCheckAPGov) January 23, 2023

The claim made with the video is false as this is not from Anantapur but Odisha. Other tweets or posts with the same video in Telugu language have been sent for further action. Please note that sharing misinformation on social media is a legal offence.

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