"IT cell spreading...": Bajrang Punia shares AI generated morphed photo of wrestlers

Famous YouTuber Dhruv Rathee also shared the two pictures and said that "IT cell" trolls had started using Artificial Intelligence softwares to defame the Olympic medalists.

New Delhi: After being manhandled by Delhi police on Sunday, the star wrestlers of India are now being trolled on social media using morphed pictures showing them smiling while being detained.

Wrestler Bajrang Punia slammed "IT cell people" after the morphed photo of a smiling Sangeeta Phogat and Vinesh Phogat appeared on Twitter. The two wrestlers along with their supporters were detained on Sunday when they tried to march to the new parliament building as it was being inaugurated.

Punia tweeted two photos - one morphed and the other genuine. The genuine one doesn't show Sangeeta Phogat and Vinesh Phogat smiling. The morphed one shows them smiling hinting that their protest was not genuine. "IT cell people are spreading this false picture. We make it clear that a complaint will be filed against whoever posted this fake picture," Bajrang Punia tweeted.

• IT Cell वाले ये झूठी तस्वीर फैला रहे हैं। हम ये साफ़ कर देते हैं की जो भी ये फ़र्ज़ी तस्वीर पोस्ट करेगा उसके ख़िलाफ़ शिकायत दर्ज की जाएगी। #WrestlersProtest pic.twitter.com/a0MngT1kUa

  — Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) May 28, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  IT Cell वाले ये झूठी तस्वीर फैला रहे हैं। हम ये साफ़ कर देते हैं की जो भी ये फ़र्ज़ी तस्वीर पोस्ट करेगा उसके ख़िलाफ़ शिकायत दर्ज की जाएगी। #WrestlersProtest pic.twitter.com/a0MngT1kUa

  — Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) May 28, 2023

  ">

  IT Cell वाले ये झूठी तस्वीर फैला रहे हैं। हम ये साफ़ कर देते हैं की जो भी ये फ़र्ज़ी तस्वीर पोस्ट करेगा उसके ख़िलाफ़ शिकायत दर्ज की जाएगी। #WrestlersProtest pic.twitter.com/a0MngT1kUa

  — Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) May 28, 2023

Famous YouTuber Dhruv Rathee also shared the two pictures and said that "IT cell" trolls had started using Artificial Intelligence softwares to defame the Olympic medalists. "IT Cell Trolls have started using AI softwares now. Look at their dirty tactics to defame Olympic Champions. First photo is real, second is manipulated. He also shared snips of some verified Twitter handles using the fake photograph claiming that the wrestlers were not serious about the protest.

• IT Cell Trolls have started using AI softwares now
  
  Look at their dirty tactics to defame Olympic Champions. First photo is real, second is manipulated. pic.twitter.com/5MXK2tNcEb

  — Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) May 28, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  IT Cell Trolls have started using AI softwares now
  
  Look at their dirty tactics to defame Olympic Champions. First photo is real, second is manipulated. pic.twitter.com/5MXK2tNcEb

  — Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) May 28, 2023

  ">

  IT Cell Trolls have started using AI softwares now
  
  Look at their dirty tactics to defame Olympic Champions. First photo is real, second is manipulated. pic.twitter.com/5MXK2tNcEb

  — Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) May 28, 2023

• These verified accounts are calling their protest a drama based on this pic.twitter.com/WEDoJ26gWd

  — Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) May 28, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  These verified accounts are calling their protest a drama based on this pic.twitter.com/WEDoJ26gWd

  — Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) May 28, 2023

  ">

  These verified accounts are calling their protest a drama based on this pic.twitter.com/WEDoJ26gWd

  — Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) May 28, 2023

Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the protest site at Jantar Mantar, barely three kilometres from where the new Parliament building was inaugurated by the prime minister, as wrestlers and police personnel shoved and pushed each other when Vinesh Phogat, her cousin sister Sangeeta Phogat and Sakshi Malik tried to breach the barricades.

Immediately after the wrestlers were pushed into buses and taken to different locations, the police officers began clearing the protest site by removing cots, mattresses, coolers, fans and the tarpaulin ceiling along with other belongings of the wrestlers. Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dependra Pathak claimed the protesters ignored repeated requests and warnings and "wrestled" with police personnel who tried to stop them.

"Today was an important day for the country as the new Parliament building was to be inaugurated and despite warnings and repeatedly urging protesters at Jantar Mantar to not march beyond the protest site they continued to do so," he said, adding the behaviour of the wrestlers was "highly irresponsible".

"They were out to disturb the preparations made by security agencies in view of the occasion," the senior police officer told PTI. Taking to Twitter, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik vowed to continue their protest at Jantar Mantar. "Our movement is not over. After being released from police custody, we will start our satyagraha at Jantar Mantar. In this country, there will be no dictatorship but there will be satyagraha held by women wrestlers," she tweeted in Hindi.

The police claimed the wrestlers broke and crossed the barricades, misbehaved and pushed the police personnel including the women constables. "The detained protesting wrestlers will not be allowed to continue with their dharna at Jantar Mantar. The entire protest venue at Jantar Mantar has been cleared," Pathak said.