Find out the Facts behind this Viral Photo Claiming to be A Recent Photo Of Prabhakaran!
The leader of the terrorist group LTTE, Prabhakaran, was killed during the final phase of the 30-year-long war in 2009. However, some individuals have claimed that Prabhakaran is still alive and did not die in 2009. Recently, Tamilnadu politician Nedumaran stated that Prabhakaran was still alive. Subsequently, an image resembling the old self of the […]
The leader of the terrorist group LTTE, Prabhakaran, was killed during the final phase of the 30-year-long war in 2009. However, some individuals have claimed that Prabhakaran is still alive and did not die in 2009.
Recently, Tamilnadu politician Nedumaran stated that Prabhakaran was still alive. Subsequently, an image resembling the old self of the late LTTE chief is viral on social media claiming to be a recent capture of Prabhakaran. Let's look at the viral image.
Social Media Posts
The image below, purported to be a smiling photo of LTTE chief Prabhakaran, tries to convince social media users that it is a recent photo; hence, Prabhakaran is not dead or alive.
It's being spread on WhatsApp too.
We decided to check the beginning and accuracy of this photo.
Fact Check
For this, we got support from the FactCrescendo India team also.
Initially, the photo was spread in India.
According to the FactCrescendo India team, a Twitter handle called Vajira Media first published and shared this smiling image.
In the comment section of this post, we saw that a reader asked if it was fake, and Vajra Media responded with a yes in the Tamil Language.
Hence it appears that the person who first shared the image had also acknowledged it as a forged image.
Yet as the image has a marked resemblance with the late LTTE chief, we investigated further to find the source of the picture. Using a keyword and reverse image search, we came across a similar image Tweeted over two years ago in 2020, as seen here, wishing Happy Birthday to Prabhakaran.
This old picture of Prabhakaran is edited with a beard and mustache, along with a few other effects to imply it is a recent photo of the man himself.
In both pictures, the hair on Prabhakaran's forehead, his shadow, and the look in his eyes all match.
Hence it's evident that the old photo of Prabakaran is used on a face editing application to create an older version of Prabakaran. We also used Face App on the same image and tried some of the features, and below are the results.
You also can create such photos using the FaceApp application. It can be downloaded here.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan defense ministry denied various claims that Prabhakaran is still alive. Instead, SL Defense officials reiterated that Prabhakaran had already died, and they had sufficient evidence to prove it, including DNA evidence. Reports about it can be read here and here. Archived.
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Conclusion
Our investigation found that the viral photo does not depict an actual image of Prabhakaran and is, in fact, a doctored image using a real, old photo of the late LTTE chief. From using online photo editing apps, anyone can create such fake images. Meanwhile, no credible evidence has proven that Prabhakaran is still alive, and SL Defense Ministry reiterates that all rumors are utterly baseless and fake.
Title:Is This The Latest Photo Of LTTE Leader Prabhakaran? (PHOTO)…..
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: Altered
