Claim: An image shows the former Prime Minister Imran Khan dead inside Adiala jail in November 2025.
Fact: This is not true. The image actually shows Khan alive at a political rally and was posted by Khan himself on X in August 2014, over a decade ago.
On 26 November, an X account, “Ministry of Foreign Affairs Baluchistan”, posted an image (archive) that claimed to show former Prime Minister Imran Khan dead inside Adiala jail, where he has been incarcerated since August 2023. Below is the screenshot post:
Screenshot of the X post.
Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) held protests outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi after Khan’s sisters were denied a meeting with him recently. This led to rumours about Khan’s whereabouts, and claims began circulating online about his alleged death.
Soch Fact Check debunked claims about Imran Khan’s alleged death here.
This article only factchecks the image shared in the post.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image and found that it is old, from August 2014.
Aaj News published this photo in its article, “PTI leaders decry ‘cowardly, planned attempt’ to assassinate Imran Khan” in November 2022. Imran Khan was attacked in Wazirabad, Punjab, during a protest calling for early elections after Khan was ousted from power in 2022. This image matches the one in the claim, indicating it is old. The description of the photo says, “PTI chief Imran Khan on a stretcher getting first aid after a failed assassination attempt.”
However, reverse searches also yielded a fact-check about this same image when it was linked to the assassination attempt on Khan in November 2022. Alt News, an Indian fact-checking organisation, debunked this image (archive) in November 2022 when it was widely shared and falsely linked to the gun attack on Imran Khan in Wazirabad, Punjab. The publication found that the same photo was old, having appeared in August 2014 and been posted by Khan’s official X account. They published this post by Khan.
Soch Fact Check analysed the X post above, which carries the photo shared by Khan’s official account on 17 August 2014, and found it matches the one being fact-checked. The post’s description states: “Night at the dharna.” “Dharna” in English means a sit-in. In August 2014, Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri protested in Islamabad, calling for Nawaz Sharif, then the prime minister, to step down and alleging that the 2013 elections were rigged.
The side-by-side comparison of the image in the claim and the one shared by Khan in 2014 is given below:
On the left is the post claiming Khan is dead. On the right is the original post by Khan from August 2014.
Soch Fact Check therefore rates the claim false.
Virality
The X user posted this image here, which garnered 4.3 million views and was liked 14,000 times.
It also appeared on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The image that surfaced recently amid the rumours of Khan’s death does not show Imran Khan dead inside Adiala jail. The official account of Khan shared the photo in August 2014.
Background image in cover photo: Dawn
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