Photos and videos showing a masked man involved in the Leh violence on Wednesday, 24 September, spread widely across social media. Many reports and BJP-linked sources claimed that this masked person was Congress councillor Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag.

However, two days after the circulation of those visual claims, Councillor Tsepag issued a clarification — shared by Alt News’ Md Zubair — stating that “the person in the viral photos and images is not him.” The Congress party, which until then had not explicitly denied or accepted the allegations, responded only after sustained public pressure triggered by Zubair’s posts and critiques of their silence.

It remains uncertain whether Tsepag gave this statement exclusively to Md Zubair or whether Zubair used a pre-existing public statement from the councillor. Zubair had posted multiple videos and images arguing that the masked person depicted in the violent scenes was not Congress councillor Tsepag.

Shortly after Zubair’s so-called “fact-check”, and after several social media users questioned why Congress had not earlier responded, Pawan Khera, spokesperson for Congress, announced that the party would pursue legal action against anchors and influencers who had circulated the claim that the masked person was their local leader in Ladakh.

“Several leaders of the BJP and some anchors/social media influencers have been showing a picture and footage of someone, and misrepresenting him as the elected councillor of Congress – Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag. We are proceeding with legal recourse and criminal proceedings against all those who have not just attempted to defame our party but have also tried to cause social unrest to fuel further dissensions. Instead of sensitively engaging with the betrayed people of Ladakh, the BJP and their media/social media minions are engaging in their usual mudslinging and looking for an opportunity to milk the outrage of Ladakh and settle scores with political opponents,” Khera posted.

Zubair also published a photo collage of multiple posts that named the masked man as Councillor Tsepag, adding the line “This is how a toolkit works,” suggesting a coordinated campaign against the Congress councillor.

It is worth noting that even before the Congress party formally responded, Md Zubair was among the first to push a narrative in favor of exonerating Tsepag.

Regarding the term ‘toolkit’, when it became widely used in Indian political discourse — especially after activist Greta Thunberg accidentally shared a Google document calling for support of anti-government activism during the farmers’ protests — AltNews, co-founded by Zubair, was one of the sites mentioned in that toolkit.

At this stage, the identity of the masked person remains unknown. It is unclear whether he has any political affiliation or links to any organization. Government sources, speaking to OpIndia, noted that all available video footage is being analyzed using facial recognition software to identify the individuals involved in the violence — but the police say they cannot currently disclose any details of the investigation.