Fact Check: Viral Photos Are Not Of Lakshadweep But Of Maldives And Bora Bora Island

Vishvas News New Delhi – Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep, the Maldives vs Lakshadweep row has escalated. In response to this situation, a significant number of individuals are now expressing their support for Lakshadweep tourism. Meanwhile, two beach pictures have gone viral on social media, purportedly depicting scenes from Lakshadweep. Vishvas News investigated the post and determined that the viral photos belong to Maldives and Bora Bora Island, not Lakshadweep.

What’s Going Viral?

Facebook user Parikshit Dhume shared two beach photos on January 8, in which a woman can be seen kayaking and a man can be seen snorkelling in the second photo. While sharing these pictures, the user used hashtags like #ExploreIndianIslands #Lakshdweep #DekhoApnaDesh #IncredibleIndia.

Investigation

Vishvas News decided to examine both the pictures one by one to investigate this post.

First Picture:

This image captures an individual snorkelling in the sea. To verify the authenticity of the post, we used the Google reverse image tool, leading us to discover that this particular picture is featured on the website of the photo agency Alamy. According to the accompanying information, the photograph was taken on July 10, 2012, and the location is identified as Bora Bora in French Polynesia.

Second Picture:

In this photograph, a woman and a man are visible kayaking in two orange kayaks. Following a reverse image search, we identified this image on cinnamonlook.org, where it was claimed to be from the Maldives.

Further investigation revealed a Facebook post dated May 2015, originating from a Maldives resort. The post featured the same image with a caption, “Kayak paddle around the calm waters of the Holiday Inn Resort Kanduma Maldives in one of our kayaks. No fancy techniques, just your own power!”

We spoke to Niket Kulshrestha, senior travel analyst at tourism company TUI, for confirmation. Niket said that both of these pictures are not from India. He said that both these pictures are originally from Maldives and Bora Bora and they have been used to promote beach tourism. On searching, we found many pictures of Lakshadweep, which were very scenic.

During social scanning of Facebook user Parikshit Dhume, who shared the fake post, we found that the user is a resident of Thane and has 6,000 followers on Facebook.

Conclusion: In its investigation, Vishvas News found that the viral photos are not of Lakshadweep, but of Maldives and Bora Bora Island.

Tags

• Lakshdweep
• Maldives