Viral video shows former first lady Bushra Bibi accompanied by KP govt’s strict security protocol after bail

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated the claim and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team conducted a reverse image search to trace the original video.

Multiple posts on social media platform X on October 24, 2024, shared a video of a convoy of police cars following a vehicle, claiming that it showed former first lady Bushra Bibi’s strict security detail by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government after her bail. However, the video is old and from Multan, having been shared as far back as 2023, and has nothing to do with the former first lady.

Bushra Bibi, the wife of incarcerated ex-premier and PTI founder Imran Khan, was released from Adiala Jail on October 24, a day after being granted bail in a recent Toshakhana case, ending nearly nine months of her detention.

The former first lady was taken into custody on January 31, 2024, after an Islamabad accountability court sentenced her and Imran to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana reference.

HOW IT STARTED

On October 24, 2024, former PTI propagandist turned critic Farhan Virk shared a video on X of a convoy of police cars following a lead vehicle, depicting a heavy security presence.

The post was captioned: “Please observe Bushra Bibi’s protocol. This is taxpayer money from the impoverished citizens of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with each vehicle consuming a significant amount of fuel daily. [Costs of] government officials are separate from this. This practice is of hypocritical PTI members who are against protocol. Provinces don’t just go bankrupt randomly, this is just the beginning of the destruction.”

The post garnered over 189,000 views and 1,600 re-shares.

The video was also shared by PTI supporters. A post by a pro-PTI user had the following caption: “Welcome to Peshawar: Honourable Bushra Bibi reaches Chief Minister House.”

The post was viewed by over 396,000 people and re-shared 6,700 times.

The same video, with users either criticising or welcoming the alleged security detail, was widely shared by PTI critics and supporters as can be seen here, here and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and intense public interest in Bushra Bibi’s release from Adiala Jail after nine months of detention.

Furthermore, some users pointed out in the comments of some of the posts that the video was an old one while some said it was of Multan’s Chungi No. 9 area.

Conducting a reverse image search to corroborate the video revealed that it was also shared last year by a PTI supporter on July 25, 2023. Even then, users in the comments pointed out to him that it was an even further old video.

Notably, a building can be seen in the video labelled Mall of Central Square with the branding of various companies, including TCL, Graana.com and Agency 21.

A keyword search for “Graana” and “Multan Chungi No. 9” showed that the real estate agency’s regional office is located in the Citi Tower building at the Chungi No. 9 spot.

Images of the spot shared by users on Google Maps also corresponded with the layout and design of the building in the viral video with the same branding placement as can be seen in pictures here, here, here, here and here.

Therefore, even though the origin of the video could not be determined, it was nevertheless found that it was an old video from Multan.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a video shows former first lady Bushra Bibi’s extensive and expensive security protocol by the KP government is false.

The clip is an old and unrelated video from Multan which was shared at least as far back as 2023.

Evidence and References

July 25, 2023, X post:
https://x.com/KaKaR_101/status/1683726260491411458