A man blamed two Muslim men for stealing his watch at Delhi airport Terminal 3 and got schooled by Rishi Bagree, a Right-wing social media influencer whom the fact-checking website AltNews had called “a relentless purveyor of misinformation.”

The man who made the post on X (formerly Twitter) also dragged in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that is responsible for security at the airports. The X bio of the man who claimed his watch was stolen said he is a Gurgaon-based surgeon.

“After investigation, it was found that Dr Tushar Mehta was blatantly lying. He has deleted his X account after getting caught and confronted by CISF. It’s unfair to concoct stories that undermine trust in our security organisations,” Bagree wrote on his X handle on Monday, two days after the “surgeon” claimed the theft of his Apple watch.

The post by Bagree – whose followers once upon a time included Narendra Modi – made no mention of the two youths who were named by the surgeon and accused of theft. But a few news websites picked up the “Muslim” names and reported on the post.

The “surgeon” had claimed after he had checked-in his baggage, he found his Apple watch missing and chased a man whom he later apprehended and had an argument with along with another person after he “recovered” his watch.

“… on the way to gate, a CISF guy came with the Helios guy and started asking me for my rude behaviour and asked to apologise. I took out my phone and called a senior official who’s been a patient for a few years and put the phone on speaker. The CISF guy spoke to him very briefly and immediately left,” the “surgeon” had posted.

The “surgeon” had alleged that the CISF personnel had accompanied the Helios staff whom he had accused of theft.

“I am putting it here for awareness mainly,” the “surgeon” had written in his now-deleted post that many users took screenshots of.

The “surgeon” had also said that he would sort it out with the officials on reaching the destination.

Both Delhi airport and the CISF responded to the post and wrote that nothing suspicious was found.

“The review of the CCTV has contradicted the sequence of events as narrated above. After security check, you were seen wearing your watch and heading for boarding gate without interaction with any CISF personnel. The boarding was completed smoothly and hassle-free. Posting of such unsubstantiated messages creates unnecessary apprehension in the minds of passengers. Hence avoidable,” the CISF wrote in its response to the passenger.

One user wrote on X: “And he Deliberately gave muslim names to his so called perpetrators, to get more engagement & propaganda media also put more emphasis on this. What a sick man....and the biggest irony is that he is a Doctor.”

The “surgeon” has since deleted the post and deactivated his account. The Telegraph Online tried to contact a Gurgaon-based surgeon named Dr Tushar Mehta to confirm whether he had actually posted it, but he did not respond to calls and texts.

Some users replying to Bagree called him out as well. “Are you sure you are not guilty of the same,” asked one X user.

Another user wrote: “Yes, he is a clear liar, just like you.”

Bagree has earlier been called out by fact-checking websites as well as news organisations. According to a Times Now report he had once allegedly posted a made-up saying by the ancient Indian philosopher Chanakya. According to fact-checking website Boom, Bagree had once posted and deleted a screenshot claiming India had become a $4-trillion economy.