Fact check: J&K LG did not announce 7-day complete lockdown; fake tweet in circulation [truth here]

The COVID situation worsened further in J&K on Wednesday as 3,023 new cases and 30 deaths were reported during last 24 hours. Alarmed by the situation, authorities announced a complete lockdown in 11 districts of J&K from 7 p.m. on Thursday to 7 a.m. on Monday. But another tweet by J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, ordering a total lockdown of 7 days, is in circulation, causing panic in the valley.

The claim

A screenshot of a tweet from J&K LG Manoj Sinha is being circulated in WhatsApp groups and on social media, which has caused panic in the Union Territory. As J&K's COVID cases hit a record high mark for the last few days and the death tally continues to spike, the tweet by Sinha ordering a complete lockdown for 7 days in J&K was circulated with a little suspicion.

The viral tweet reads: "I lieutenant governor of jk(UT) here to announce a complete lockdown for 7 days UT from 30April to 6may. Emergency services always available. stay home stay safe."

The tweet was is dated April 28, 2021, so any doubt of it being an old tweet was cleared. As the tweet went viral on social media platforms, a sense of panic struct the valley.

Fact check

International Business Times was one of the recipients of the viral tweet, as a screenshot. At first glance, one might easily fall for it, but looking at the obvious details points out the tweet is fake. First things first, we quickly went to the official Twitter handle of Manoj Sinha (@manojsinha_) to verify if such an order had been passed. There was no tweet posted from the handle of Sinha on Wednesday, to which the viral tweet screenshot was dated. Government officials have also confirmed that the viral tweet in circulation is fake and not from the real account of J&K LG.

The next evidence was in the screenshot of the tweet itself. There were several irregularities, which indicated the contents of the tweet were photoshopped.

1. There is no verified blue tick next to Sinha's name.
2. The handle has been cropped out and there's just blank white space after "@" - which is not possible for a Twitter account.
3. The first letter of Sinha in the account name is in lowercase.
4. The profile photo of Sinha in the tweet is an old one, whereas the official account has a different display picture.
5. The font used in the viral tweet is also not of the regular Twitter font, which indicates photoshopping has been done.
6. There are several grammatical errors in the tweet, besides the lack of spacing between words.

Based on these facts, IBTimes has arrived at the conclusion that the tweet is fake and no lockdown order in J&K has been given.