An image showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi riding bicycles with BJP youth wing leader from West Bengal Pamela Goswami has surfaced on social media that the two were photographed campaigning together for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the backdrop of Goswami's recent arrest in a drug case.

A Twitter user shared the image with a caption in Hindi that can be roughly translated to, "Modi's photo with cocaine possessor Pamela."

The image is also doing rounds on Facebook with the same caption in Hindi.

Pamela Goswami had alleged that she was framed as part of a "conspiracy". The BJYM leader also accused BJP's Rakesh Singh of "sending his men to plant" the bags of cocaine recovered from her vehicle by Kolkata Police last month.

The truth behind the claim 

In our investigation, we found this viral image to be morphed. 

We found the original image on Pamela's Facebook profile that she posted on December 1, 2020. The original image shows Goswami taking part in a cycle rally with a BJP flag; other party workers can also be seen riding bicycles. In the picture, another BJP worker has been tagged as one Anupam Mallik.

On further investigation, we found several images of PM Modi riding a bicycle in 2017 where Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte had gifted a bicycle to Narendra Modi. 

One of these images has been used to create the viral image by flipping and placing it on the viral image.

In conclusion, an edited image showing PM Modi riding a bicycle with BJP youth wing leader Pamela Goswami riding bicycles is viral on social media with the false claim that the two were photographed campaigning together for the Bharatiya Janata Party.