Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan fell prey to a fake news on Tuesday.
Oblivious to the fact that it was a fake news, Khan, while expressing his disgust over corrupt leaders, tweeted, “Shashikala, a famous South Indian actress turned politician in India’s Tamil Nadu died recently and below her house were discovered gold reserves, jewels, and an illegal stash of money! A message to all corrupt leaders: the hoarded billions stolen from our impoverished masses will be left behind.”
He also posted a few pictures in his tweet. However, it later transpired that neither his facts were correct, nor were his pictures original.
A Dubai-based journalist, Sadiq S Bhat, was the first one to point these factual inaccuracies.
He pointed out that the South Indian actress Shashikala, that Imran was referring to, is serving a four-year term in jail at the moment, and is not dead.
He also clarified that it was, in fact, Shshaikala’s friend, Jayalalitha, (the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu) who had passed away last year.
Dear @ImranKhanPTI you got it completely wrong. Sasikala is in jail. Her friend Jayalalitha, ex-CM of Tamil Nadu, died late last year and those pictures are obviously fake. One expects better from a senior politician like you. pic.twitter.com/6arkmZBYVD
— Sadiq S Bhat (@sadiquiz) December 19, 2017
The pictures that Khan posted were taken by the Indian media after bank robberies in different areas and were not of either’s house. Responding to that, Imran Khan immediately deleted the tweet.