The claim

A picture of actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut with a man has gone viral on social media with the claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) leader posed for a photograph with gangster Abu Salem. 

Several users have shared the photo to imply a connection between Ranaut and the 1993 Mumbai blast convict who is currently serving a life sentence. The viral image had an overlaid text in Hindi, which translated to, “Some memorable moments of devotees’ lioness (referring to Ranaut) with the country’s enemy Abu Salem.”  Ranaut is the BJP candidate from the Mandi constituency in the North Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, which goes to polls on June 1, in the seventh and final phase of the Indian general elections. 

An X (formerly Twitter) user sharing the image wrote, “Sister of blind devotees, spending some memorable moments with ‘Abu Salem’… (translated from Hindi).” The post was viewed 57,000 times at the time of writing this story. Archived versions of similar posts can be found here, here, and here.

Screenshot of the claims made online. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the man in the image is a former journalist, not convicted gangster Abu Salem.

What did we find?

Several news outlets have reported on Kangana Ranaut’s recent clarification on Instagram, stating that her photo with one former journalist Mark Manuel has been shared as her being photographed with gangster Abu Salem.

Taking this clue, we ran a Google Search for ‘Mark Manuel’ and checked his Instagram and Facebook accounts. We found that Manuel is a former editor at The Times of India. He has also worked as a journalist for Mid-Day and has served as a columnist for the Hindustan Times and HuffPost.

Manuel had shared the now-viral image on his official Instagram account (archived here) on September 15, 2017, with the caption, “Kangana Ranaut… love, sex and betrayal. Read it on my Facebook page.” He had also shared the same image on Facebook the same day (archived here). In the caption, Manuel wrote that this picture was taken at “Korner House in Khar some months ago.” “It was at a champagne brunch to celebrate Kangana’s film ‘Simran’ that releases today (sic),” he had written.

Further investigation into his Facebook account revealed that he had shared a post in October 2023 carrying the same image (archived here) along with several other screenshots of some news headlines. We learned that the photo in question had also gone viral in 2023 with the same claim.

In a clarification under the image, Manuel explains that a photo of Kangana Ranaut with him from a 2017 Huffington Post article (archived here) was circulated by many Congress members, claiming she was sitting with gangster Abu Salem. He further stated that Ranaut and her supporters quickly debunked the claim, pointing out that Salem has been incarcerated since 2002.

On October 1, 2023, Ranaut had also clarified on X (archived here) that the individual next to her was not gangster Abu Salem but journalist Mark Manuel. “I don’t believe congress people really think he is the dreaded gangster Abu Salem hanging out with me casually in a mumbai bar. He is ex TOI entertainment editor his name is Mark Manuel (sic),” she wrote.

The collage below includes publicly available photos of Abu Salem and Mark Manuel and Abu Salem and shows that it was the latter who was photographed with Ranaut in the viral photo.

Abu Salem (left), Mark Manuel (center) and the viral image. (Source: The Indian Express/Instagram/ @markmanuel2609/ X)

The verdict

A 2017 photograph of actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut posing with entertainment journalist Mark Manuel has been falsely portrayed as evidence of Ranaut “partying” with the notorious gangster Abu Salem. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.

(This story was originally published by Logically Facts, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective)

A disturbing incident has come to light in Delhi, where a man was allegedly forced to pose with a naked woman, slapped and extorted for money inside a hotel room in Delhi’s Paharganj. X user Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj shared the incident on the microblogging site on Tuesday. She alleged that “4-5 goons” entered the man’s hotel room forcefully, hit him and demanded money. They also reportedly forced him to stand next to a naked woman, took pictures and threatened that if he said anything, they would make the photos public. 

“Got a frantic call from a friend. Her colleague who was in Delhi for a conference near Paharganj booked a cheap hotel because he had to just keep his luggage and go for a conference. After his work, when he came back to the hotel to pick up luggage, within minutes, some 4-5 goons entered his room along with a woman who stripped immediately. Before he could understand anything, he was slapped and hit by these men,” Ms Bhardwaj wrote. 

DO NOT BOOK CHEAP HOTELS IN PAHARGANJ, DELHI

Got a frantic call from a friend. Her colleague who was in Delhi for a conference near Paharganj booked a cheap hotel because he had to just keep his luggage and go for a conference

After his work when he came back to hotel to pick…

— Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj (@DeepikaBhardwaj) April 23, 2024

The X user added, “They then took his pics with the woman and threatened that if he said anything, these photos would be made public. He was asked to pay 15,000 rupees to leave. He hasn’t lodged a complaint because it seems that the police were also involved. He paid up and ran from there”. 

In the following tweet, Ms Bhardwaj said that she has been contacted by the Delhi Police on the matter. “They’ve extended all support & taking it seriously. Whether cop who was with the goons is a real cop or not is a matter of investigation. Have connected the victim with senior officers,” she said. 

Update : I have been contacted by @DelhiPolice@DCPCentralDelhi on this matter. They’ve extended all support & taking it seriously. Whether cop who was with goons is a real cop or not is a matter of investigation. Have connected the victim with senior officers.

— Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj (@DeepikaBhardwaj) April 23, 2024

Ms Bhardwaj shared the post on Tuesday. Since then, it has accumulated more than 1.4 million views and several comments. 

“Paharganj is a known notorious area for such scenarios. All of its hotels look shady ..it’s location outside NDLS railway station helps to attract visitors, which these hotels use it to their advantage,” wrote one user. 

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“Paharganj is filled with thieves and pickpocket. I got surrounded by four guys trying to steal my phone and wallet. I was alert so attempt thwarted, but many people get robbed.. If you can afford to, then always book a proper name brand hotel in Delhi,” shared another. 

“It’s better to book hotels online via brands like Expedia, Easemytrip etc. instead of going directly to the hotel. At least this way, online companies will take some responsibility,” suggested a third user. 

The usage of food delivery applications has increased significantly in recent times. As our lives have become fast-paced, it serves as a convenient option and helps save time. However, there has also been a growing issue regarding the quality of the food received. In the past, there have been several cases of people complaining about finding insects in dishes ordered from restaurants. Now, another such incident has come to light and has sparked concern about the food service industry. Taking to X on Saturday, a user complained about excess oil she found in her order which caused her and her friends to have stomach ache and bloating.

Nikita Toshniwal took to X and wrote, “Guys seriously think before ordering food from online delivery partners and cloud kitchen. It is not at all safe these day. And Zomato is really not concerned with anything. This event encountered us when me and some friends ordered food from Zomato on Friday.”

In another post, she said that the food was “so bad” and “unhealthy”. It had “a thick layer of oil on the top” which made all of them sick. She added, “My friend wrote a mail to zomato. They havent reverted back nor their support system is good. @zomato is least bothered now a days.” Ms Toshniwal also shared pictures of the food order and a screenshot of the mail sent to the food delivery company. 

The food was sooo bad,
There was a thick layer of oil on the top!
It was soo unhealthy
We all had stomach pain and bloated stomach

My friend wrote a mail to zomato

They havent reverted back nor their support system is good@zomato is least bothered now a days pic.twitter.com/EgZDGmDNuv

— CA Nikita Toshniwal (@nikitoshniwal) March 31, 2024

Zomato took note of the same and said that they would investigate the matter. “Can’t begin to express how disappointed we are that you had to go through all this trouble, Nikita. We’re here to rescue. Please allow us some time to investigate the matter and we will get back to you shortly.”

Since being shared, her post has amassed several reactions from social media users.

“When I get such food, i simply throw it, may seem as food wastage but when it’s a matter of health can’t compromise. I chat with zomato, most of the time they refund. I then blacklist that restaurant and never order from there. Simple Give zomato terms & conditions a read,” said a user.

“Next time order from a better place may be? Leaving a bad rating for the restaurant and moving on might be your best bet. Oily food is very common in India, I don’t think Zomato has much role to play here. It’s not like Pav Bhaji is ‘healthy’ food to begin with,” said a person.

“They will refund you the money, that’s the best they can do. Need to be very careful where you are ordering from, given the Cake incident happened in Patiala,” commented a person.

Another wrote, “Lucky you only got oily food. Zomato once sent me non-veg food (I’m vegetarian and it was an all veg order) and their response was more than ridiculous and tone deaf.”

A person said, “Ordered stew from Zomato, went to flush it down right after eating 25%.”