May 29th 2024.
A recent claim has been circulating on social media that actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut was photographed with gangster Abu Salem. However, after fact-checking, it has been determined that this claim is false. The image in question is from 2017 and features Ranaut with former journalist Mark Manuel, not Salem.
The viral image was accompanied by a caption in Hindi that translates to "Some memorable moments of devotees' lioness with the country's enemy Abu Salem." This has led many to believe that Ranaut had some sort of connection with Salem, who is currently serving a life sentence for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai blasts. Ranaut is currently running for the BJP in the Mandi constituency in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Upon further investigation, it was found that the man in the photo is actually Mark Manuel, a former editor at The Times of India. He had shared the image on his Instagram and Facebook accounts in 2017, with a caption that mentioned Ranaut's film "Simran" and a champagne brunch they attended together at Korner House in Khar.
Interestingly, this same image had gone viral in 2023 with the same false claim. In response, Mark Manuel had clarified on his Facebook account that the photo was from a 2017 Huffington Post article and that Ranaut and her supporters quickly debunked the claim, pointing out that Salem has been incarcerated since 2002.
Ranaut herself had also addressed the issue on X, stating that the man in the photo was not gangster Abu Salem, but journalist Mark Manuel. She added that she does not believe Congress members actually thought she was casually hanging out with Salem in a Mumbai bar. She also shared a collage of publicly available photos of Salem and Manuel, proving that it was the latter who was photographed with Ranaut in the viral image.
In conclusion, the claim that Kangana Ranaut was photographed with gangster Abu Salem is false. The image is from 2017 and features Ranaut with former journalist Mark Manuel, who has clarified the misunderstanding on his social media accounts. This false claim has been debunked and should not be taken seriously.
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