A week after the tragic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which claimed 270 lives, a video surfaced on social media featuring a voice-over that claimed the lone survivor, Vishwas Ramesh Kumar, had been arrested at his home for allegedly lying about being on the ill-fated flight.

However, the Press Trust of India’s (PTI) Fact Check Desk contacted Jaipal Singh Rathore, Additional Commissioner of Police, Sector-2, Ahmedabad City, who confirmed that Kumar has not been arrested in any case. Further investigation revealed that Vishwas Ramesh Kumar was admitted to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital after surviving the crash. Following his discharge, he also attended the last rites of his brother, who was aboard the same flight.

Therefore, the claims circulating on social media are entirely false and baseless. Notably, the Gatwick-bound Air India flight — a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner — with 242 people on board, including crew members, took off at 1:38 pm on Thursday, June 12, and crashed within minutes, bursting into flames.

Claim:

An Instagram user, on June 18, shared a video with a voiceover that claimed that the lone survivor in the Air India plane crash was arrested at his home after he allegedly lied about being on the aircraft.

“Truth revealed: Survivor of Air India crash arrested for falsely claiming to be on board #ahamedabad,” read the post’s caption

The post garnered 32,934 likes. Here is the link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same.

Investigation:

Starting the investigation, the Desk ran the viral video through the InVid tool and extracted multiple keyframes. Using one of the keyframes in a Google Lens search, the Desk found numerous social media accounts sharing the same claim. Two such posts can be found here and here, and their archived versions can be found here and here.

As part of the investigation, the Desk conducted a customised keyword search on Google to find relevant media reports of survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh’s arrest, but the search did not result in any such report.

However, we came across a report by Hindustan Times dated June 12, which carried a picture of the boarding pass that highlighted the passenger's name, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, and his seat number 11A. This finding clarifies that Vishwash Kumar Ramesh did book a ticket. Moreover, the name of the flight mentioned on the pass was ‘AI 171’. The report stated that Vishwash, a British national, was in India for a few days to visit his family and was going back to the UK along with his brother, Ajay Kumar Ramesh (45).

Here is the link to the report, and below is a screenshot of the boarding pass.

In the next part of the investigation, to verify whether he boarded the plane or not, we looked for the passenger list. A report by the Times of India dated June 12 carried the list of the passengers. Here is the link to the report, and below is a screenshot of the same.

Furthermore, when Vishwas Ramesh Kumar was admitted to the City Hospital, Ahmedabad, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met him on June 12, 2025, as per an X post by the Press Trust of India. According to the above findings, it is clear that Kumar did board the plane, and he was admitted to the hospital after surviving the deadly crash.

Here is the link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same.

On conducting another set of customised keyword searches, and came across a report by India Today dated June 18, 2025, which mentioned that Air India crash survivor Viswashkumar Ramesh has been released from the hospital. He shared that he is heading home and will do the cremation of his younger brother on Wednesday.

“Viswashkumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, has been released from the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad. In a telephonic conversation with India Today, Ramesh confirmed that he is heading home and will perform the last rites of his younger brother on Wednesday,” read a section of the report.

Here is the link to the report, and below is a screenshot of the same.

Press Trust of India (PTI) in its X post mentioned Vishwas Ramesh Kumar, the lone survivor of the tragic Air India AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, performed the last rites of his brother, Ajay Ramesh, who was also onboard the ill-fated flight.

Here is the link to the report, and below is a screenshot of the same.

To debunk the claim about the survivor's arrest, we skimmed through the official handles of DGP Gujarat, Gujarat Police, and Ahmedabad Police but did not find any news of Vishwas being arrested.

Taking the investigation ahead, the Desk then contacted the Additional Commissioner of Police, Sector-2, Ahmedabad City, Jaipal Singh Rathore, who confirmed that the claim of Vishwash Kumar Ramesh’s arrest is false and he has not been arrested in any case.

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that the claim made in the social media post of the lone survivor in the Air India plane crash, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh’s arrest, is false. He did board the AI 171 plane and was admitted after he survived the deadly crash.

Claim

Air India plane crash survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was arrested at his residence.

Fact

Ramesh has not been arrested in any case. He did board the AI 171 plane and was admitted after he survived the deadly crash. He attended the last rites of his brother on June 18, 2025, after being discharged from the hospital.

Conclusion

Multiple social media users shared a video with a voiceover that claimed that the lone survivor in the Air India plane crash was arrested at his home after he allegedly lied about being on the aircraft. However, the Desk found that the claim made in the social media post of the lone survivor in the Air India plane crash, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh’s arrest, is false. He did board the AI 171 plane and was admitted after he survived the deadly crash.

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