Pakistan's caretaker PM did not 'confirm' Dawood Ibrahim death

"Here is the official confirmation Dawood Ibrahim is dead," reads the caption of an image shared on Facebook on December 18.

The image appears to show a screenshot of a post from the same day shared on the verified account of Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Pakistan's caretaker prime minister.

The post says: "The Messiah of humanity, dear to every Pakistani heart, our beloved His Excellency Dawood Ibrahim passed away due to poisoned by unknown. He breathed his last breath in a hospital in Karachi. May Allah grant him the highest position in Jannat."

It is followed by an Arabic verse from the Koran: "Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Allah we shall return."

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on December 21, 2023

The same image was shared on Facebook here and here, as well as on X here.

Indian media reported on rumours that notorious gang boss Dawood Ibrahim -- suspected of masterminding a series of deadly bomb blasts that killed more than 250 people in Mumbai in 1993 -- was poisoned to death in Karachi (archived links here and here).

Ibrahim, who was designated a "global terrorist" by the United States in October 2003, has been on the run since 1993 (archived link). India believes he is residing in Karachi, but Pakistan insists he is not hiding in its territory.

'Falsely attributed' statement

While AFP cannot independently verify claims about Ibrahim's death, a keyword search on Google did not turn up any official reports of Pakistan's prime minister or his office announcing he had died.

A search of Kakar's official account on X shows he only posted once on December 18 -- a message reaffirming Pakistan's commitment to ties with Norway on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations (archived link).

Furthermore, the screenshot of the X account that supposedly shared the statement has a different username than Prime Minister Kakar's official account.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the X account in the purported screenshot (left) and the caretaker prime minister's official X account (right), with the different usernames highlighted by AFP.

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Screenshot comparison of the X account in the purported screenshot (left) and the caretaker prime minister's official X account (right)

A search on X found an account with the username "anwaar_kakkar", which has the same cover image, profile picture and description as the leader's official account.

But it has a different handle to the account shown in false posts -- "Anwaar ul Haq Kakar (Fans)" -- and is not verified.

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Screenshot comparison between the X account in the purported screenshot (left) and the imposter account on X that has the same username (right)

Moreover, the purported screenshot also has the label "Twitter for Android" at the bottom of the X post.

Labels specifying what kind of device was used to post on X had been removed after billionaire Elon Musk's takeover of the social media platform, then known as Twitter, in October 2022 (archived link).

Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting described the statement as "fake news" (archived link).

"This tweet is falsely attributed. No such statement has been issued by the Prime Minister," it posted on X on December 19.

"Those responsible for creating and spreading fabricated information will be subject to legal prosecution. Clarification is essential to maintain truth and accountability."

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