Viral visuals of PTI founder Imran Khan in handcuffs

RATING JUSTIFICATION

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a forensic analysis as well as critically analysed the image to assess its authenticity.

Multiple accounts, including users who appeared to be PTI supporters based on their past posts, were sharing visuals across social media platforms since March 29, 2026, allegedly showing party founder Imran Khan in handcuffs. However, the visuals are AI-generated.

Imran — imprisoned since 2023 for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in the £190 million corruption case.

Imran’s party and family allege that he is being kept in solitary confinement, with restrictions on visitors meeting him in jail. They repeatedly raise concerns over his medical treatment, after it surfaced in January that he suffered an eye ailment. His sons, Qasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan, have also been campaigning for his release.

HOW IT STARTED

On March 29, a user, who appears to be a PTI supporter based on his past posts, shared a video on TikTok, allegedly showing Imran in handcuffs, surrounded by police.

The post gained 365,800 views and 38,000 likes.

Another pro-PTI account shared the same video on X, with the following caption: “My innocent leader in handcuffs. He doesn’t deserve this.”

The post gained 593,800 views.

Another social media user posted the same clip with the following caption: “This is really unacceptable”.

The post gained 85,000 views.

Similarly, some PTI supporters shared images of Imran in handcuffs, as can be seen here, here and here; collectively gaining over 30,000 views.

Multiple other users also shared the visuals on Facebook and X, as seen here, here, here and here; accumulating 53,000 views.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the incarcerated former premier.

A thorough visual analysis of the images revealed inconsistencies; all six visuals, presented as CCTV screengrabs, displayed an identical timestamp: “2:23:41” despite the visuals showing different people and different locations.

Sequential frames cannot share the same timestamp in authentic surveillance footage. This indicated that the images were not extracted from real surveillance footage and were consistent with synthetic or AI-generated fabrication.

The visuals were also analysed using AI detection tools with Undetectable AI indicating that they were only three per cent real, while Decopy.AI flagged the images as 98pc AI-generated.

Similarly, Hive Detect assessed them as 99.8pc likely to be AI-generated.

Moreover, a keyword search yielded no news reports from credible Pakistani or international media outlets that covered the visuals in any context.

A reverse image search by the team also did not yield any such images being shared by the PTI.

FACT-CHECK STATUS

The claim that viral visuals show PTI founder Imran Khan in handcuffs is false.

The visuals are AI-generated.