Who shot the photo of Shahrukh shooting during Delhi riots? TOI and PTI caught in mix-up

PTI published an image of Delhi rioter Shahrukh on its Instagram page. It took the photo down later as it had been clicked by TOI’s freelance photojournalist.

This is the picture of Delhi rioter Shahrukh that PTI had posted on its Instagram page.

New Delhi: One of the most viewed images of Delhi riots has become controversial over who took it, causing a mix-up between two media organisations.

On Tuesday, news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) posted a photograph of Shahrukh — a rioter and shooter who became one of the faces of the communal violence that shook the national capital last week — on its Instagram page, crediting one of its photojournalists, Ravi Choudhary.

A screenshot of PTI’s now-deleted Instagram post.

However, it took the photo down from the social media account Wednesday after it was pointed out that the freelance photojournalist who actually clicked the photo was working with English daily The Times of India (TOI).

Speaking to ThePrint, Ishant, whose had originally captured the image in his camera, said he had given the photo to a PTI journalist while on the field, and did not check with his reporting editor at TOI if he was allowed to.

Photojournalists oftentimes share images of generic nature with each other.

“We did not mean for this to happen. At the time the photo was taken from Ishant, we were under the impression that he was a freelance photographer who had not given the photo to TOI,” PTI’s photo editor Gurinder Osan told ThePrint.

“However, we should not have published it with Ravi Choudhary’s byline — it was a desk error on our part. As soon as we realised, we took it down,” said Osan, adding that the matter is being looked at.

Ishant said since PTI published the photo on its page, he has been “no longer working with TOI”. He did not comment on the reason behind this.

But Vikas Singh, a resident editor at TOI, maintained that their pay-per-photograph arrangement with Ishant was still intact.

“I will look for a job now. I don’t know how this will affect my career,” said Ishant, who joined TOI as an intern in April 2019, and began working with them on a freelance basis in October.

Photo of Shahrukh

The photograph of Shahrukh — who was arrested by the Delhi Police from Shamli in Uttar Pradesh Tuesday — was clicked on 24 February during the Delhi riots, when a mob was walking from Maujpur to Jaffrabad.

Ishant said taking the picture was risky, but he was not alone and other photojournalists were also present.

“I was hiding behind a metro pillar when I took the photo so I could avoid being seen. Others also took photos, but they could not see the crowd as clearly. That’s why I gave PTI the photo,” he said.