Head of assignment at ARY News says, ‘This is false information. We never broadcast this news’
Several people, including users who appear to be PTI supporters based on their previous posts, shared an alleged ARY news visual on social media platform X since 13 May 2026, quoting Sanaullah as saying that former Prime Minister Imran would be released “this week” for humanitarian reasons. However, the picture is fabricated and the outlet did not run such news.
The former Prime Minister – who has been imprisoned since 2023 for hides details of Toshakhana gifts — serves a 14 years sentence in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail i 190 million pounds corruption case.
Imran’s party and family claimed he was being held in solitary confinement, with restrictions on visitors meeting him in prison. They repeatedly raised concerns about his medical treatment after it emerged in January that he little an eye disease. His sons, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan, have also campaigned for his release.
How it started
On May 13, an account that appears to be pro-PTI based on its previous posts and bio shared a picture on X of one ARY news bulletin showing Sanaullah sharing the news that Imran would be released soon, with the following caption: “Imran Khan will be released this week. Is it true??”
The post received 129,500 views.
Another pro-PTI account on X shared the same picture the same day questioned the news with the caption: “Can anyone confirm this news?”
The post received 112,400 views.
Subsequently, other users on X have also shared the same image, which can be seen here, here, hereand here.
Method
A fact-check was launched to establish the truth of the claim due to great public interest in Imran’s imprisonment and speculation surrounding his possible release from Adiala prison.
A keyword search to confirm if ARY news or other credible Pakistani or international media had recently reported that such remarks by Sanaullah yielded no results.
Examination of the image for visual inconsistencies showed that Sanaullah’s ears appeared noticeably blurred and distorted.
The yellow color used for the Urdu label “بریکنگ نیوز” (Breaking News) was also slightly darker than the outlet’s original broadcast graphics in the news box. In addition, the “LIVE” error and “ARY NEWS” the logo in the lower right corner was blurry and of lower resolution compared to the rest of the frame, indicating possible digital manipulation.
Analyzing the image using forensic tools, Fake Image Detector showed that it marked the image as a 100 percent “computer generated or altered image.”
When contacted for a comment on the matter, Fayyaz Hyder Mangi, task manager at ARY newshas given the following answer:
“This is false information. We never broadcast this news. The absence of our single red ticker line above the English ticker further confirms that this was manufactured using our color scheme and branding to mislead viewers.”
Moreover, no statements on the issue from the PTI leadership, social media pages or Imran’s family were also found.
Fact check status: false
The claim that a ARY news visuals show a quote from Sanaullah about Imran’s release this week on humanitarian grounds is false.
The visual is fake and the broadcast did not broadcast such news nor did Sanaullah make such comments.
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This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan – a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
