#FactCheck: False Claim of Ex-CDS Anil Chauhan’s Arrest Linked to Old 2021 Srinagar Police Bus Attack Video
Executive Summary
A post is being shared on social media claiming that retired Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan was arrested from his residence in connection with a 51.5-kg drug case. The post states that official confirmation of the case is awaited. Some Army personnel can also be seen in the video, which is being shared as evidence to support the claim. CyberPeace Research found the viral claim to be false. We found that General Anil Chauhan had retired as CDS in May 2026. According to the Ministry of Defence, his tenure ended on May 30, 2026. However, we did not find any credible report confirming General Anil Chauhan’s arrest in connection with a 51.5-kg drug case. Therefore, the claim being shared on social media is misleading and false. Furthermore, according to the available information, the video is related to the December 2021 terrorist attack on a Jammu and Kashmir Police bus in the Pantha Chowk area of Srinagar.
Claim:
On September 18, 2026, a user on the social media platform X claimed that retired CDS General Anil Chauhan was arrested from his residence in connection with a 51.5-kg drug case.
https://x.com/i/birdwatch/t/2100860615887892915?source=6
Fact Check:
To verify the viral claim, we conducted a Google search using relevant keywords. During the search, we did not find any credible media report supporting the claim. As part of our research, we conducted a reverse image search of keyframes from the video. During the search, we found the same video on the Facebook page of The Kashmir Today, where it was posted on December 13, 2021. The 58-second video also contains the portion seen in the viral video in its final six seconds. According to the information accompanying the video, militants attacked a police bus near Aripora Zewan on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday afternoon. At least 14 police personnel were injured in the attack, three of whom were reported to be in critical condition.
According to official sources cited in the report, the gunmen’s attack injured 14 police personnel, who were subsequently admitted to a hospital. The area was cordoned off and a search operation was underway to apprehend the attackers. At the time, there were no reports of any arrests.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=422219106288318
Based on the clue found on Facebook, we conducted a Google search using relevant keywords. During the search, we found a report published on The Times of India website on December 14, 2021, carrying the same claim.
Conclusion
Our research found that the video being shared on social media is not recent but dates back to December 2021. During the reverse image search, we found the same video on The Kashmir Today’s Facebook page, where it was posted on December 13, 2021. The viral portion of the video is also present in the original 58-second clip. According to the available information, the video is related to the December 2021 terrorist attack on a Jammu and Kashmir Police bus in the Pantha Chowk area of Srinagar. The attack resulted in the deaths of two police personnel, while 14 others were injured. Therefore, the old video is being shared with a misleading claim by linking it to a recent incident.
Related Blogs
Executive Summary
A collage of two images circulating on social media is falsely claiming that the street vendor who served jhalmuri to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election campaign in Jhargram was actually a personnel from the Special Protection Group (SPG). Research by the CyberPeace Research Wing found the claim to be false and misleading, indicating that it is being shared as part of election-related misinformation. The vendor and the SPG personnel seen in the viral collage are two different individuals.
Claim
An X (formerly Twitter) user, “@Jeetuburdak,” shared the viral collage on April 21, 2026, with the caption: “Another scam! The jhalmuri seller turned out to be an SPG commando.” The post quickly gained traction online.
Fact Check
A close examination of the two images used in the collage shows clear visual differences between the individuals. The person seen in SPG uniform does not match the street vendor who served food to the prime minister. Reverse image searches were conducted using multiple tools to trace the origin of the images. While no verifiable source was found linking the SPG personnel’s image to the vendor, several credible reports and videos featured the actual jhalmuri seller from the campaign event.
- https://x.com/ANI/status/2045859146508177911?s=20
- https://news24online.com/cities/kolkata/who-is-the-man-that-served-jhalmuri-to-pm-modi-know-his-daily-income-and-what-he-talked-about-with-pm/811123/
According to media reports, the prime minister briefly stopped at a roadside stall during the campaign in Jhargram and interacted with the vendor while enjoying jhalmuri. The vendor was later interviewed by multiple outlets, further confirming his identity as a local seller. Additionally, technical facial comparison analysis using online tools also indicated that the two individuals in the viral collage are not the same person.
Conclusion
The claim that the jhalmuri vendor was an SPG commando is false and misleading. The viral collage shows two different individuals, and there is no evidence to support the allegation.
Executive Summary
Amid ongoing tensions in West Asia and concerns over the safety of commercial vessels carrying Indian crew members, a purported ABP News video clip has been circulating on social media. The clip, along with an accompanying image, claims that in response to alleged US attacks on ships carrying Indian citizens, the Indian government removed security arrangements outside the US Embassy in New Delhi and withdrew identity cards issued to American diplomats. The viral post also includes an image showing a JCB machine near the US Embassy, which users are sharing as alleged evidence of recent government action against the United States CyberPeace Research Wing research found the claim to be misleading. The probe revealed that both the video clip and the image are not recent and are in fact related to events from 2013, during the diplomatic tensions following the arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade.
Claim:
On X (formerly Twitter), a user shared the viral clip alleging that India strongly condemned the US over reported attacks on a vessel carrying Indian citizens and, in response, removed security from the US Embassy in New Delhi and revoked identity cards issued to American diplomats.
https://x.com/aadil_husssain2/status/2065184188157043053
https://ghostarchive.org/archive/A5Py5
Fact Check
A keyword search related to the alleged removal of security outside the US Embassy did not yield any recent credible reports supporting the claim. We also observed that the ABP News logo visible in the viral clip is an older version that is no longer in use, raising further doubts about its authenticity and timeline. To verify the footage, we checked ABP News’ official YouTube channel and found a report dated December 17, 2013. The report stated that Delhi Police had removed security barricades outside the US Embassy in New Delhi following diplomatic tensions between India and the United States over the arrest and treatment of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York. The visuals in the 2013 report closely match multiple segments seen in the viral clip. The footage originally aired as part of ABP News’ “Fatafat” bulletin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrm_UcL1zOk&t=139s
Further search also led to a PTI-reported article published by Times of India on December 17, 2013. According to the report, barricades outside the US Embassy were removed as part of India’s response to the Khobragade incident. The report also mentioned that India had sought the return of identity cards issued to American consular officials and rolled back certain diplomatic privileges.
The image being shared alongside the claim, showing a JCB machine near the US Embassy, is also old. Getty Images carries photographs dated December 17, 2013 showing barricades being removed outside the US Embassy in New Delhi during the same diplomatic episode.
Conclusion:
The research clearly establishes that both the viral video clip and the accompanying image are not recent. These visuals are from 2013 and are linked to diplomatic developments following the Devyani Khobragade case. The claim linking them to recent events involving US Embassy security arrangements is misleading.
Introduction
Most people who lose money to an online scam do the same thing first. They stare at the bank message and try to work out whether it can still be undone. Sometimes it can, but only if the right people move within hours. In Delhi, once the amount crosses ₹50 lakh, those people sit in a unit most residents have never heard of: the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit, known as IFSO.
The scale explains why it exists. Delhi residents lost close to ₹1,000 crore to cyber fraud in 2025, after roughly ₹1,100 crore in 2024, and police counted at least 376 cases in 2025 in which a single victim lost more than ₹50 lakh. Investment scams, boss impersonation and "digital arrest" calls, in which fraudsters pose as police, CBI or courier officials and convince a victim that they are under investigation, topped the list.
Where IFSO came from
IFSO's roots go back to February 2019, when the then Union Home Minister inaugurated the National Cyber Forensic Lab alongside a Delhi Police cybercrime unit called CyPAD. CyPAD was later renamed IFSO, and for years it worked inside the Special Cell, the force's counter-terror and organised crime wing. On 3 December 2025, an order approved by the Commissioner of Police made it a standalone unit, with all its personnel reporting directly to a Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO). By then the city also had dedicated cyber police stations in all 15 districts, which matters for what follows.
Who takes which case
Delhi Police sorts cyber fraud by the amount lost.
The split came with a change that matters to ordinary victims. From 1 November 2025, anyone who has lost ₹1 lakh or more can have an e-FIR registered at the Integrated Help Desk of any police station in the capital, down from a ₹10 lakh threshold earlier. Smaller losses still go through the 1930 helpline and the national portal. In practice, then, the amount decides who takes the case after you report, not which door you walk through.
What IFSO actually does
It chases the money, fast. Stolen funds rarely stay put. They hop through chains of "mule" accounts within minutes. When a victim reports and supplies transaction details, IFSO starts what police call lien marking, asking banks to put a hold on the money. According to the unit's DCP, Delhi Police managed to hold nearly 20 per cent of defrauded funds in 2025, almost double the share in 2024.
It works across state lines and borders. In October 2026, IFSO was reported to have broken a syndicate with handlers in Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, arresting 11 people. In the same operation, working with Andhra Pradesh Police, it helped secure ₹7.25 crore from the ₹10.25 crore taken from a 79-year-old man in Vijayawada, and put a hold on a further ₹1.96 crore. The network was linked to 78 complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, across several states, involving about ₹73 crore.
It tries to intervene before the money is gone. Reports describe a financial monitoring wing that identifies potential victims while a scam is still unfolding. In one round of interventions it reportedly helped prevent about ₹1.53 crore in losses across five states, including an elderly man held in fear by a "digital arrest" for 14 days.
It brings the forensic muscle. Reporting describes IFSO as home to a cybercrime lab whose services are available to police forces in other states, which is part of why complex, multi-state cases land with it.
If it happens to you or someone you know
Time is the one thing you cannot get back, so the order matters.
- Call the national cyber helpline, 1930, immediately, and tell your bank at the same time.
- File the complaint on cybercrime.gov.in. In Delhi, if the loss is ₹1 lakh or more, you can also have an e-FIR registered at any police station's help desk.
- Keep everything: transaction IDs, account numbers, the scammer's phone numbers, screenshots, chats, call logs. Do not delete the app or the conversation.
- Do not pay anyone who offers to recover your money for a fee. Delhi Police advice is blunt: do not join online investment groups, do not install unknown .apk files, and do not transfer money without verification.
Why the First Hour Counts
Picture the money after a scam. It rarely sits in one place. Within hours it is usually split across several “mule” accounts, then withdrawn or pushed onward, sometimes into crypto. That is the whole reason 1930 exists.
The helpline is run by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the Home Ministry, around the clock. When you call, the details go into a system called CFCFRMS, which alerts whichever bank or wallet is holding the money at that moment and asks it to freeze the amount before it moves again. Under a procedure issued on 2 January 2026, the call itself is handled by the police of your own state.
The numbers are large. By 30 June 2026, the Home Ministry told the Lok Sabha, more than ₹11,158 crore had been “saved” across over 32.80 lakh complaints. Read that word carefully, though: “saved” means held by banks, not handed back. Getting it back is a separate step, and a Money Restoration Module, live since April 2026, was built to speed that up.
A change to watch: D4C
On Tuesday, 25 August 2026, the Delhi Government approved a new body, the Delhi Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (D4C), meant to be the nodal agency for cyber fraud under the Commissioner of Police, with a command centre at Police Headquarters on Jai Singh Road working around the clock. Hindi reporting at the time said IFSO would be merged into it. IFSO's investigation wing, the digital investigation lab, the training and awareness centre, the 1930 helpline control room in Haiderpur and a Fraud Mitigation Centre, where bank representatives are to sit alongside police, would all come under D4C, and the 15 district cyber stations would work to its directions. English coverage noted that how the two bodies relate had not been fully explained.
For a victim the advice does not change: report first through 1930 or the portal, and let the system route the case. What may change is the name on the door.
The takeaway
Policing can claw money back only while it is still traceable, and that window is measured in hours. IFSO's record shows what a specialist unit can do inside it. The rest of the work belongs to the rest of us: verify before paying, report early, and never be embarrassed to call 1930.
References
- https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/delhi/delhi-police-lowers-e-fir-threshold-for-cyber-fraud-cases-to-1-lakh/
- https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/delhi/delhiites-lose-rs-1000-crore-to-cyber-frauds-in-2025/amp
- https://thepatriot.in/crime/over-7000-arrested-in-delhi-polices-biggest-cybercrime-crackdown-86937
- https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2025/12/04/des90-dl-ifso-separation.html
- https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/delhi/delhi-police-busts-digital-arrest-syndicate-with-foreign-links-11-arrested-rs-7-25-crore-saved-1503650650.html
- https://www.newshubonline.com/delhi-police-foil-cyber-fraud-attempts-worth-%E2%82%B91-53-crore-across-five-states-rescue-senior-citizens-from-digital-arrest-scams/
- https://www.bwpoliceworld.com/article/delhi-police-will-now-host-d4c-instead-of-ifso-to-tackle-cybercrime-621038
- https://www.saahassamachar.in/big-action-on-cyber-fraud-in-delhi-new-d4c-center-will-work-24-hours
- https://aninews.in/news/national/general-news/delhi-police-d4c-to-have-dedicated-unit-for-school-bomb-threat-emails-online-crimes-against-women-and-children20260831103631/
