Red Fort Blast: A Call for Caution in Breaking News

November 15, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

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Hello,

A blast near Delhi’s Red Fort Metro Station on the evening of November 10, 2025, killed at least 13 people and injured several others. What followed: unverified death toll, viral false claims and conspiracy theories.

From an injured man’s plaster being pitched as a PR stunt to an AI video of a man claiming to film Delhi blast viral as real, the internet was rife with misinformation. Read on!

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Exhibit A: Delhi Red Fort Blast

Claim 1: "NCR police have ruled out terrorism in the Delhi blast — yet Modi’s propaganda machine and Godi media keep spinning false “terror” narratives. (sic)" 

Claim 2: "It was a tragic CNG cylinder explosion, not a terror attack. The high casualty figure is because the blast happened in a crowded pick-up zone right outside Red Fort Metro Gate 1 during evening rush and resultant fire spread to nearby vehicles. As confirmed by Special CP Ravindra Yadav (Law & Order). (sic)" 

Both are false claims. Adding to the list: Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj falsely claimed that a patient who sustained injuries during the high-intensity blast, was faking his injuries by sporting a plaster on his left hand during the prime minister's visit to LNJP hospital to meet the injured. 

Exhibit B: False Claim of Actor Dharmendra’s Death

Several media outlets and social media handles falsely claimed veteran actor Dharmendra had passed away following his hospitalisation at a Mumbai hospital. His family members had to call out viral claims stating that he was stable and recovering.

A Call for Caution in Breaking News

A breaking news situation is precisely when we must slow down our sharing habits. Before you react, remember that an unverified claim, even if shared unintentionally, can quickly turn into a harmful rumour.

Here are 5 simple tips to help you navigate the barrage of information during a breaking news event and ensure you are not contributing to the spread of misinformation:

  1. Look immediately for statements from official government or emergency services channels (e.g., Police, Fire Department).

  2. Who is sharing the information? Even verified accounts can be wrong or share information before it's confirmed.

  3. Cross-reference the information with multiple independent sources. Whenever possible, check with primary sources.

  4. Use search operators (like custom date ranges in Google) or reverse image search tools to check if viral photos are being reused from an old or different incident.

  5. Spot a claim or want us to verify anything suspicious? Send it to BOOM’s WhatsApp tipline number: +91 7700906588.

EXPLAINED

Monetised Reels To Shadow Ads: Meta’s Election Rules Collapse In Bihar

In the run-up to the Bihar elections, undisclosed shadow campaigns ran unchecked on Meta, while several candidates with large online followings continued to monetise their content. In doing so, both parties and candidates violated Meta’s own monetisation rules and the Election Commission of India’s guidelines, with no visible action from either side. 

Two new reports by Democratic Charkha and the National Alliance of People’s Movement Bihar detail how these violations stack up across the board, from candidates failing to disclose revenue from monetised pages to political parties routing spending through unverifiable “news” pages and fan accounts. 

Together, the findings show how Meta is enabling opaque political advertising with almost no accountability, while allowing candidates to derive financial benefits through features that should have been disabled according to their policies. Archis Chowdhury explains.

LAW, JUSTICE ET AL

How Courts, Police, Media Failed The Missing Children Of Nithari

Almost 19 years after he was first arrested in connection with the horrific “Nithari Serial Killings,” Surendra Koli—house help of Moninder Singh Pandher, the other accused—walked out of Ghaziabad’s Dasna Jail a free man.

Surendra Koli’s acquittal in the Nithari case is emblematic of the impact of wrongful convictions. Koli’s acquittal is not a story about innocence, but about a catastrophic procedural collapse. 

The Nithari case serves as a terrifying blueprint of a systemic crisis, exposing how coerced confessions and a failure to follow basic legal procedure are endemic to our investigative agencies. Ritika Jain reports.

DECODE

Interview: Can AI Comprehend The Complexities Of Indian Courtrooms?

A judicial revolution: Kerala has quietly ushered in what some call a judicial revolution: from November 1, every witness deposition in the state's district courts will be "primarily recorded" by Adalat AI, a voice-to-text transcription system. 

A first: Kerala becomes the first Indian state to formally substitute the stenographer's keyboard with algorithmic processing. This transition represents a significant push toward paperless, digitised courts reliant on artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP).

The caveat: However, Kerala's approach carries a notable caveat. The High Court has issued detailed guidelines on the "responsible and restricted" use of AI, explicitly acknowledging that "most AI tools produce erroneous, incomplete, or biased results". Every transcript, the policy mandates, must be "meticulously verified by judicial officers". 

Decode’s Hera Rizwan spoke to lawyer Leah Verghese to understand the implications of AI in courtrooms.

'FAKE NEWS’ YOU ALMOST FELL FOR

🔍  Did Deputy Commissioner of Police North Delhi Raja Banthia rule out a terror angle in the Delhi blast near the Red Fort? Find out in 🔗 Srijit Das’ ↗️ fact-check.

🔍  A video of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi walking through an airport with his niece went viral on social media with users debating over the identity of the young woman. 🔗 Srijanee Chakraborty ↗️ tells you the truth.

🅱️ RECOMMENDS

This week's recommendation is: AI Risk Disclosures in the S&P 500: Reputation, Cybersecurity, and Regulation

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