Karnataka tableau featuring Tipu Sultan is from the 2014 Republic Day parade
Karnataka’s 2025 Republic Day Parade tableau displayed temples
On 26 January 2025, India celebrated its 76th Republic Day. President Droupadi Murmu unfurled the national flag at Kartavya Path. President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia attended as the chief guest of the 76th Republic Day celebrations. The Republic Day parade featured cultural performances and honoured gallantry award winners. The 2025 Republic Day parade showcased tableaux from various states across India, including Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Gujarat, Tripura, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, and others. The Armed Forces and several Central Ministries also displayed their tableaux. Amidst this, a photo showing a tableau with ‘Karnataka’ written on it, depicting Tipu Sultan, is going viral on social media platforms (here, here, here, and here). The accompanying claim suggests that Karnataka displayed a tableau featuring Tipu Sultan at the recently held 2025 Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo shows the Karnataka tableau featuring Tipu Sultan during the 2025 Republic Day parade.
Fact: The viral photo dates back to 26 January 2014 and shows the Karnataka tableau featuring Tipu Sultan at the 2014 Republic Day parade. In the 76th Republic Day parade held at Kartavya Path on 26 January 2025, Karnataka’s tableau showcased the exquisite and artistic temples of the historic city of Lakkundi. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
A relevant keyword search revealed that the viral photo showing Karnataka’s tableau depicting Tipu Sultan is from the 2014 Republic Day celebrations. The keyword search led us to a news report published on the NDTV website on 27 January 2014, titled ‘Tipu Sultan Tableau on Republic Day Sparks War on Twitter’. This report featured the same viral photo of the tableau depicting Tipu Sultan. According to the report, Karnataka displayed a tableau featuring Tipu Sultan during the 2014 Republic Day parade. Additionally, other news reports (here, here, here) from 2014 featuring the same tableau confirm that this photo is indeed from the 2014 Republic Day parade.
We also found the live streaming of the 65th Republic Day Parade on the official YouTube channel of Doordarshan National, the Indian government’s official broadcaster, dated 26 January 2014, where the same tableau can be seen.
Moreover, Karnataka’s tableau in the 76th Republic Day parade held on 26 January 2025, depicted the temples of Lakkundi, a city renowned as the ‘Cradle of Stone Craft’ (here, here). According to a report by Hindustan Times, Lakkundi is located in the Gadag district of Karnataka, approximately 70 km from Hubballi, and is famous for its stunning stone architecture. The front part of the tableau, which rolled down the Kartavya Path, featured the Brahma statue from the Brahma Jinalaya temple, the oldest Jain shrine in Lakkundi, dedicated to Lord Mahaveera. The main section of the tableau showcased the grand and ornate Kashi Vishweshwara temple and the Nanneshwara temple, both dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Furthermore, we have reviewed the entire live telecast of the 76th Republic Day Parade, shared on the official YouTube channel of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 26 January 2025. In this stream, we can clearly see that Karnataka’s tableau displayed the temples of Lakkundi, not Tipu Sultan. From all this information, it is evident that the viral photo showing the Karnataka tableau featuring Tipu Sultan is from the 2014 Republic Day parade.
To sum up, this viral photo is old and shows the Karnataka tableau featuring Tipu Sultan from the 2014 Republic Day parade.
(This story was originally published by factly.in, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
