Video used to smear Indian Army is a months-old US-based vigilante clip with no Army link
Video used to smear Indian Army is a months-old US-based vigilante clip with no Army link
Executive Summaryसारांश
The video Baba Thoka shared as an Indian Army “Lieutenant Ram Gopal” caught abroad has been traced to its original source. It was posted on April 20 by Instagram creator shua.mundy, who makes confrontation-style “sting” videos. The original clip names a different man and does not mention the Indian Army.The video Baba Thoka shared as an Indian Army “Lieutenant Ram Gopal” caught abroad has been traced to its original source. It was posted on April 20 by Instagram creator shua.mundy, who makes confrontation-style “sting” videos. The original clip names a different man and does not mention the Indian Army.
Full Reportपूरी रिपोर्ट
Fact-checkers have traced the footage in Baba Thoka’s (@ThokaReturns) October 16, 2026 post to a reel uploaded on April 20, 2026, by the verified Instagram account shua.mundy, a creator who posts videos confronting men accused of trying to meet minors. The original clip was filmed on a residential street in what appears to be the United States. Its on-screen text identifies the man by a different name, “Hussein”, and there is no reference to India, the Indian Army or any military officer. The reel drew over 25,000 likes months before Baba Thoka reused it. Baba Thoka renamed the man “Lieutenant Ram Gopal”, added an inset of a uniformed border guard, and invented an “admission” about the Army to produce a degrading smear against the force. It is the third fabricated post from the handle against the Indian Army in a single day. Such content should be reported rather than shared.
Fact-checkers have traced the footage in Baba Thoka’s (@ThokaReturns) October 16, 2026 post to a reel uploaded on April 20, 2026, by the verified Instagram account shua.mundy, a creator who posts videos confronting men accused of trying to meet minors. The original clip was filmed on a residential street in what appears to be the United States. Its on-screen text identifies the man by a different name, “Hussein”, and there is no reference to India, the Indian Army or any military officer. The reel drew over 25,000 likes months before Baba Thoka reused it. Baba Thoka renamed the man “Lieutenant Ram Gopal”, added an inset of a uniformed border guard, and invented an “admission” about the Army to produce a degrading smear against the force. It is the third fabricated post from the handle against the Indian Army in a single day. Such content should be reported rather than shared.