Fact Check: Viral Video Of Army Chief Announcing Sonam Wangchuk's Death Is A Deepfake

A video is going viral on social media claiming that the Army Chief (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi has expressed deep sorrow over the 'custodial death' of Sonam Wangchuk, the renowned climate activist and education reformer from Ladakh. Wangchuk was arrested on September 26, 2025, following violent protests demanding Union Territory status for Ladakh, and he is currently lodged in a jail in Jodhpur.

Vishvas News found in its investigation that this video is a deepfake, edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi had made no such statement regarding Sonam Wangchuk.

What is viral?

Facebook user Conflict Watch x shared the viral video (archived link) on November 27, 2025. In the video, Army Chief (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi can allegedly be heard saying, "I express my deep regret at the passing of Sonam Wangchuk while he was in state custody. His death has caused understandable concern among citizens across Ladakh and the rest of the country. As Chief of General Staff, I extend my condolences to his family and to all who knew him. Every life lost under detention demands clarity and accountability. I have requested the Central Government to conduct a thorough and transparent enquiry. All facts must be verified so that confidence in our institutions remains intact. May his family find strength during this difficult time.."

Investigation

We started our investigation with a keywords search. We found no news of Sonam Wangchuk's death anywhere. We also found no such statement from Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi regarding Wangchuk.

Following this, we began searching for General Dwivedi's original video. We spotted the logo of the news channel WION in the viral video. We searched WION's YouTube channel. We found the entire video uploaded on November 27, 2025. The video was from the time when Army Chief (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi spoke about Operation Sindoor during the Chanakya Defence Dialogue. We carefully reviewed the entire video. At no point in the whole video did General Dwivedi mention 'Sonam Wangchuk' or 'custodial death.'

Continuing our investigation, we carefully examined the video. The lip sync in the viral video is incorrect. The audio also sounds robotic. We suspect the video may have been edited with AI.

To verify, we contacted our partner, the DeepFakes Analysis Unit (DAU), an initiative of the Trusted Information Alliance (TIA). DAU's expert team analysed the video. Swiss deep-tech company Aurigin.ai confirmed that 95% of the audio was a deepfake.

Five out of eight detectors on the University of Buffalo's detection tool, DeepFake-O-Meter, indicated the possibility of AI manipulation in the video.

We also spoke with Azhar Machwe, a researcher working on AI and emerging technologies, to confirm this. He also confirmed that the video was edited with AI.

The Facebook user Conflict Watch x, who shared the viral video, has over 1,800 followers.

Conclusion: Vishvas News investigated and found that the viral video, featuring Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi's statement regarding Sonam Wangchuk, is a deepfake, with an AI-created voice added to it.