On Monday, a day after the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy thanked the frontline healthcare workers by showering petals on hospitals, an image of a helicopter showering migrant workers with the rose petals had gone viral on social media.
Ahmedabad Mirror Editor Deepal Trivedi shared the image with equating the flypast with migrant workers crisis. https://twitter.com/DeepalTrevedie/status/1257135416781664257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw This image was retweeted by various people including Congress MP Manickam Tagore.One Toral Varia, who identifies herself as former journalist, shared the image with disclaimer that she got it on WhatsApp.
https://twitter.com/toralvaria/status/1257207783004483586?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIndian screenwriter Mayur Puri, too, took to Twitter to share the unverified image with disclaimer that he found it on Facebook.
https://twitter.com/mayurpuri/status/1257149118108930049?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThis image was retweeted by noted photographer Atul Kasbekar, who knows the nitty gritty of digitally enhancing images, as well.
However, the image is digitally enhanced.
Facts about the viral ‘helicopter showering petals on migrants’ picture
The image of the migrant workers walking on the roads amid lockdown is from March 2020, over a month before the flypast.
The image was clicked by AFP photographer Money Sharma in Faridabad on March 27, 2020.
https://twitter.com/PIBBhubaneswar/status/1256773625648164871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw The above image of the helicopter was shared by PIB Bhubaneswar on Twitter.