Fake Footage Alert: Shoe-Cleaning Clip of News Anchor Debunked

New Delhi, November 06, 2025: A manipulated video purportedly showing senior news anchor Navika Kumar cleaning the shoe of Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been widely disseminated on social media, leading to immediate political controversy. The highly misleading clip was swiftly identified by fact-checkers and media analysts as an AI-manipulated fake. The video’s virality was driven by its sensational and deliberately demeaning content, which sought to degrade the professional relationship between a journalist and a politician.

Video Lacks Authenticity and Context

An examination of the original footage and independent analysis has confirmed that the scene depicted in the viral clip never actually occurred. The video was created using sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, which was utilized to distort visuals and superimpose the offensive action onto existing, unrelated footage.

It is highly likely that the original video was sourced from one of the numerous on-stage interviews or summits where Navika Kumar has engaged with Amit Shah, such as the Times Now Summit. The original context of the interaction was purely professional, involving a journalistic exchange.

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The Aim of Digital Disinformation Is Identified

The creation and spread of this particular piece of disinformation are being viewed as a malicious attempt to defame the news anchor and to politically embarrass the Union Home Minister. The use of AI in this manner has been strongly condemned by media organizations and political parties alike.

Such fabricated content is recognized as part of a larger, worrying trend where technology is exploited to sow discord, mislead the electorate, and erode trust in the media during crucial political periods. The incident has been cited as a clear case where deepfake technology was used for targeted character assassination.

Call for Action Against Perpetrators

The widespread outrage over the video has led to calls for stringent legal action against the individuals or groups responsible for its creation and distribution. The deliberate manipulation of images of public figures to convey false narratives is considered a serious breach of cyber laws and ethical conduct.

Public figures and political parties are currently appealing to social media platforms to implement more effective measures for rapidly identifying and removing such sophisticated, fabricated content before it can cause irreversible damage to reputations and public discourse. Users are being urged to exercise extreme caution and to verify the authenticity of all such sensational clips before sharing them further.