Fact Check: Old Images of Alleged Kidney Stealing In Muzaffarnagar Viral With COVID-19 Spin

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A post going viral on social media claims that a doctor in Uttar Pradesh tried to sell the kidney of a coronavirus-infected patient. When Vishvas News investigated we found that the images being shared are of a 2018 incident that happened in Muzaffarnagar. Old images are now going viral with COVID-19 spin.

Claim

On July 30, Facebook user Nadia Haq uploaded two pictures, claiming: “A doctor at Garg Hospital in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh was caught while he was trying to sell the kidney of a coronavirus-infected patient. Humanity has ended, Doctor’s profession has been tarnished.” The archived version of the post can be checked here.

Investigation

Vishvas News searched the photo online using the Google reverse image tool. During the search, we found the viral pictures on the website named Royal Bulletin. According to the report, a doctor in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, had taken out the kidney of a patient after he diagnosed that there was a stone. After this, the doctor was arrested. The event is of 2018. Read full news here.

During the search, we also found an old news report on magazine.com. A report published on June 24, 2018, stated that a case was filed against the doctor in the kidney selling case in Muzaffarnagar. You can read the whole news here.

During Google search, we also found a news on India TV’s YouTube channel. In the news report, the kidney scandal of Muzaffarnagar was explained in detail. Watch the full video here.

Vishvas News spoke to Manish Sharma, the Bureau Chief of Dainik Jagran’s Muzaffarnagar. Looking at the viral pictures he said that the pictures are of a nearly two-year-old incident. It has nothing to do with coronavirus.

We scanned the profile of the Facebook user Nadia Haq and found that the user has shared fake news in the past as well. The user profile suggested that the user is based out Ranchi, Jharkhand and the account was created in June 2011.