A Twitter user (@saket71) has shared a screenshot wherein NDTV journalist Vishnu Som could be seen sporting a mysterious doll, resembling slain global terrorist Osama Bin Laden, on his desk.

A close look at the “brownish-yellow doll” at 5:42 time stamp does highlight the similarity between the two. Vishnu Som had earlier courted controversy by going against Rahul Gandhi on the alleged “Rafale Scam”, even though has been seen batting relentlessly for the Dynasty,

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Several Netizens took to Twitter to speculate whether the statue was that of Osama Bin Laden and if so, why would a journalist want to keep memorabilia of a dreaded terrorist.

Don bhai @realDonaldTrump, this is office of @ndtv an Islamist news channel representing Pakistan in India. They have a memento with Osama’s image on their work desk. Many journos & staff of the group are frequent travelers to US. Please do the needful ?https://t.co/GWdwSQc9Zl — iMac_too (@iMac_too) February 29, 2020

This is NDTV studio and they have Osama bin Iaden artpiece on their desk.

Just @ndtv things ? pic.twitter.com/eOpTGmWRh1 — Mikku ? (@effucktivehumor) February 29, 2020

What is this art piece with pic of Global Terrorist Osama Bib Laden doing on table of NDTV Vishnu Som ????

watch video – https://t.co/q1IJaP3f6k frm NDTV official YouTube channel itself btwn 5:40 to 6.00 pic.twitter.com/8WCoPTPnq1 — naresh kumbhani (@nareshkumbhani) February 29, 2020

Since fake news peddlers disguised as fact-checkers such as Alt News may claim that the doll does not resemble Osama but Saudi King and Prime Minister, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, here is a visual differentiation between the two.

Alt News that holds similar ideological leanings to the left-leaning NDTV may need to come up with even bizarre theories to lend credibility to their misleading claims.

Earlier, AltNews attempted to shield the rioters at the Jamia Milia Islamia University by claiming that they were carrying “wallets” instead of “stones”, despite a plethora of evidence against the contrary.

When a poster featuring Hindu women with Bindis in Burkha, and a shattered Swastika, the sacred Hindu symbol, came to light amidst Anti-CAA protests, Alt News falsely claimed that it was the contentious Nazi Symbol. Not only that, in an effort to discredit Prasar Bharti, Alt News put out a misleading narrative against the public broadcaster.

The love for radical Islamists is not a new phenomenon for the left-liberal jamaat. Last year the propagandist website, The Quint, glorified Osama Bin Laden by observing his “death anniversary” and letting their readers know about ‘human aspects’ of Osama such as how good or bad a father and a husband he was.

Update: Vishnu Som responded to this story saying that doll, in fact, features the image of Osama Bin Laden, which is a Russian Matryoshka doll. He said that he had bought the doll in Moscow, and he had found it utterly bizarre that the world’s no 1 enemy would feature on a doll being sold right outside the Kremlin. But he denied any affinity to Osama, saying that “to suggest that this doll reflects some sort of affinity to Osama is part of a typically desperate attempt to cherry-pick information to cast bizarre aspersions on NDTV journalists.”

1.This is a Russian Matryoshka doll, widely available online, that I picked up on Red Square, Moscow several years back. I found it utterly bizarre that the world’s No 1 enemy would feature on a doll being sold right outside the Kremlin. https://t.co/4390wLgQyL https://t.co/8KWNxvnLX9 — Vishnu Som (@VishnuNDTV) February 29, 2020

Vishnu Som also posted a link to a webpage showing Russian Matryoshka dolls featuring Osama Bin Laden and several other notorious dictators.

Here is the full text of Vishnu Som’s explanation posted in several tweets: This is a Russian Matryoshka doll, widely available online, that I picked up on Red Square, Moscow several years back. I found it utterly bizarre that the world’s No 1 enemy would feature on a doll being sold right outside the Kremlin. To suggest that this doll reflects some sort of affinity to Osama is part of a typically desperate attempt to cherry-pick information to cast bizarre aspersions on NDTV journalists. ‘Political’ Matryoshka dolls aren’t an oddity – they come in several shapes and sizes. This one also features Saddam, a tyrant to the US who was once the recipient of extensive Russian military aid. Similarly, it features a doll of Yasser Arafat, a tyrant to Israel once revered by successive governments in India. It also has a doll of Stalin whose image has been nurtured by the Putin regime though he has been loathed in the past by many in Russia. To be sure, I possess classic Matryoshka dolls as well as also other curios. This one was particularly curious. Our favourite online hate specialists clearly had a lean day this weekend. Abuse in response and get blocked. P.S – I use it as a paperweight.