Sudhir Chaudhary airs misleading footage on Doordarshan debut show ‘decode’
New Delhi: On his debut show for state-run broadcaster Doordarshan, senior anchor Sudhir Chaudhary aired unrelated and outdated videos, falsely claiming they showed Indian air defence systems thwarting Pakistani attacks. The show, titled Decode, premiered on DD News at 9 PM on 15 May 2025.
Around the 15:25-minute mark of the episode, Chaudhary presented visuals of missile strikes, stating that India’s armed forces had cornered Pakistan. However, Alt News found that the footage was from an Iranian missile strike on Israel’s Nevatim airbase in October 2024. The same video was uploaded by DD India on YouTube on 2 October 2024, captioned as an Iranian attack on the Negev Desert airbase.
Later in the show, at the 26:48-minute mark, Chaudhary claimed that Pakistan had attacked Indian cities and airbases, but these attacks were foiled by Indian air defence systems, including the indigenous “Akashteer.” During this narration, visuals of an aerial combat over a night sky were shown. This video, too, has no connection to the India-Pakistan conflict. It had previously gone viral during the conflict and was fact-checked by Alt News as a 2021 video of Israel’s Iron Dome system.
Interestingly, the version of the Decode episode now available on YouTube has this portion edited out. The clip now starts with Chaudhary saying, “जैसे-जैसे समय बढ़ रहा है, इस युद्ध की नई-नई डिटेल्स सामने आ रहा है… मेड इन इंडिया है, और इसका नाम है आकाशतीर,” indicating that the previous claims and visuals were removed. However, a social media user who recorded the original telecast on her TV shared the unedited clip, confirming the misleading segment.
Sudhir Chaudhary’s debut on DD News comes after Prasar Bharati signed a reported ₹15-crore annual contract with him for the weekday show. His previous stint with Aaj Tak had also begun with a misquote falsely attributed to Mark Twain, which Alt News debunked.
Over the years, Chaudhary has faced several fact-checks by Alt News, including for falsely accusing MP Mahua Moitra of plagiarism, misreporting on the Kathua case, spreading communal narratives like “jihad” charts, and misrepresenting farmers' protest leaders. In February 2025, the NBDSA had also asked Aaj Tak to remove an entire episode of Black & White anchored by Chaudhary over content that violated LGBTQIA+ dignity.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
