Thread by @ChitraAhanthem

A con story in the making that went viral and how fact checking led to some interesting turns
ifp.co.in/page/items/577…

the 'breaking story' was first carried by @NortheastToday without any by line and with no mention of the said 7 yr old child except name and age. The story has since been deleted from their site without any further mention/clarification

to their credit, the Editor of @NortheastToday shared the press release on which the news item was based. it was from an organization called International Youth Committee. the PR had no phone number, no proper address

This was pointed out to @NortheastToday and IFP proposed the idea of a joint investigation. We did not hear back on that but within half an hour, Google search showed up a proper address in Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi

IFP's search on the people behind IYC led to a startling revelation, it was chaired by a Dr. KK Singh who is none another than Kangujam Karnajit, who had earlier impersonated as a UN body representative and had swindled money leading to his arrest kanglaonline.com/2016/01/conman…

Even as the original story was taken down, the same text is being used by various other sites who continue to carry the said story, without any verification. Social media platforms continue to share the story and share it further

The Manipur CM retweeted the story but deleted it after sometime (we have a screenshot) while the Governor of Manipur put up a congratulatory note on Facebook

CC @ManipurTalks