Disinformation Targets Army Officer: Viral Thailand Video Misidentified as Lt Gen Rajiv Kumar Sahni 

Viral social media posts falsely claim that Indian Army Officer Lt Gen Rajiv Kumar Sahni was assaulted in Thailand and and that he has been facing facing a Thai arrest warrant. Our investigation found that the video depicts a different individual, while the purported legal document was manipulated from a Thai court template.

Misleading and false claims  attributed to individuals holding high offices are nothing new in India. From politicians at the highest levels of the legislative hierarchy to bureaucrats and chief justices, fake claims have often found their way onto social media, spreading like wildfire. 

This time, Lt. General Rajiv Kumar Sahni, a senior Army Officer, was the target. He  currently serves as the Director General of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers and served as the Director General of Information Systems (DGIS) during Operation Sindoor.

A video is being widely circulated on social media along with what appears to be a Times of India (TOI) report claiming that Indian Army Lieutenant General Rajiv Kumar Sahni was brutally assaulted in Phuket, Thailand after allegedly refusing to pay for escort services. The account that originally posted the claim is currently restricted in India in compliance with legal demands. Along with the video, another post containing an image of a document that appeared to be a police complaint or report written in Thai, is also widely shared.

What does the viral claim say?

On June 1, an X user named Baba Thoka shared a video showing a group of women assaulting a man on the street. The post claimed that the man in the video was Lt. Gen. Rajiv Kumar Sahni, Director General of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (DG EME) of the Indian Army, and alleged that he had been beaten by Thai ladyboys in Phuket after refusing to pay for escort services.

Before the account was restricted in India, the post had amassed more than 1.4 million views, along with nearly 5,000 likes and 1,139 reposts.

Another account, Shoaib, also shared the video, captioning it: “A major incident involving Indian Army Lieutenant General Rajiv Kumar Sahni occurred in Thailand recently. He was allegedly beaten up by local transwomen. The conflict started because he supposedly refused to pay for an escort service”. The post had garnered more than a hundred views as of June 4. 

Several other accounts amplified the claim by sharing the same video with similar captions.

How did we verify?

We performed a reverse image search using keyframes from the viral video. This led us to an Instagram post by Telegraph Online, dated January 5, 2026, which contained an extended version of the same footage.

According to the post, the video shows a group of transgender women pulling a man out of a car, dragging him onto the street, and assaulting him. Telegraph Online reported that the incident was captured on December 27, 2025.

The caption of the post makes it clear that police said they would ask the Indian tourist to file a formal complaint once he had recovered, and a legal investigation would then proceed. 

We also found a news report by The Times of India. TOI reported that the victim was identified as 52-year-old Indian national Raj Asuja, who had visible injuries to his face and the back of his head. The dispute is believed to have started over money, after the man allegedly did not pay the full amount agreed for the service.

The report also states that similar incidents involving Indian tourists and transgender sex workers have been reported in Pattaya in recent months.

What is the ‘legal document’ the user posted?

Along with the video, the user Baba Thoka also shared another post containing an image of a document that appeared to be a police complaint or report written in Thai. The document was presented as purported evidence supporting the claim made in the viral post.

The caption accompanying the document claimed: “Reportedly, a Thai arrest warrant has been issued against an Indian national, Rajiv Kumar Sahni, over allegations of harassment and fraud. Rajiv Kumar Sahni is a serving Lieutenant General in the Indian Army, and a recent video allegedly showing his involvement with ladyboys has gone viral”.

On examining the document, we found that it was forged and manipulated from a template  for a Thai arrest warrant. The original image was taken from Wikimedia Commons. Several alterations had been made to the manipulated copy that was shared in the post, including the addition of the English remark ‘harassment and fraud’.

The header translates to ‘Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions’, which has no jurisdiction over foreign nationals or standard criminal cases like harassment and fraud. The date of the original document is 19 May 2011 . This has been changed to 17 May, 2026.

Indian Army debunks the claim

The Indian Army’s official fact-checking account has explicitly dismissed these allegations against Lt Gen Rajiv Kumar Sahni. Refuting the claim, Armed Forces Fact Check, stated on X that the incident had no connection with Lt Gen Sahni and was being deliberately misrepresented to spread disinformation and damage the image of the Army.