Fact Check: Old pictures of farmers’ protests go viral as Oct 18 ‘rail roko’ 

Several pictures are circulating on social media as Monday’s ‘rail roko’ protests. Using reverse image search, India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) traced the origin of all three pictures and found that these are old images of similar protests held by farmers earlier this year and late last year.

The nationwide ‘rail roko’ by farmers’ unions on October 18, affected the services of over 200 trains, mostly in Punjab and Haryana. The protesters are demanding the arrest of Union minister Ajay Mishra over the Lakhimpur incident in which his son Ashish’s convoy allegedly ran over farmers.

On social media, several pictures are circulating as of Monday’s ‘rail roko’ protests. The pictures, going viral with the hashtag #___, show people holding flags sitting on tractors and squatting on railway tracks.