New Delhi: On Thursday, the Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) fact-check section uncovered yet another social media allegation that propagated a misleading account of Indian deaths in Operation Sindoor. Images purporting to depict the last ceremonies of an Indian Air Force Rafale pilot who supposedly passed away on May 7 were shared on social media by a number of Pakistan-based accounts.

This assertion was refuted by the PIB fact-checking section as “completely false,” and they emphasized that the photograph is dated 2008 and has nothing to do with the allegation.

“An old photo is making the rounds on social media, with numerous claims from Pakistan saying it depicts the last ceremonies of an #IndianAirForce Rafale pilot who passed away on May 7, 2025. This assertion is wholly untrue. The PIB fact-checking team posted on X that the photograph was taken in 2008 and has nothing to do with the present situation.

Using the same picture, the PIB fact-check team also included a link to a CNN story on “India’s burning issue with emissions from Hindu funeral pyres.”

According to the image description, the photo was taken on April 16, 2008, in Bamroli, Gujarat, during a mass cremation of fifteen schoolgirls on the banks of the River Orsang.

In a forceful military reaction to the terror incident in Pahalgam on April 22, which claimed 26 lives, India began Operation Sindoor on May 7. More than 100 terrorists connected to groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen were killed as the Indian Armed Forces struck terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

On May 7, India targeted nine terror infrastructure locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir using Rafale planes equipped with SCALP missiles and HAMMER bombs. According to the reports, the Indian Air Force exposed the shortcomings of Pakistan’s air defense systems by completing the operation in only twenty-three minutes without suffering any casualties.

Following the attack, India launched a coordinated attack that damaged radar infrastructure, communication centers, and airfields across 11 airbases in Pakistan. Pakistan responded with cross-border shelling across the Line of Control and Jammu and Kashmir, as well as attempted drone attacks along the border regions. Following this, an agreement to end hostilities between India and Pakistan was declared on May 10.