The Sindh government came under fire on Sunday after news circulating on social media claimed that the PPP-led government was selling flour bags received in aid for the flood-affectees from the United Kingdom in local stores.

A picture of a flour bag with “UK aid” and “not for sale” printed on it was being shared on social media, and several users claimed that the bags were part of the aid Pakistan received from the UK and was being sold in the stores of Sindh instead of being distributed in flood-affected areas.

Later, on its official Twitter handle Chief Minister House clarified that the story was “fabricated”, adding that the UK did not provide flour as it was not a partner in the programme.

“Politically motivated propaganda is being spread to undermine, discredit relief work and to divert attention from the genuine service,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) denied the rumour and stated that there was “no authenticity” in the information circulating on social media.

“The Government of Pakistan and NDMA has not received any aid from the United Kingdom containing/consisting of flour bags,” it clarified.

Despite official denials, social media users are busy trying to find out whether the image circulating on the social media platforms was actually taken in India.

Users pointed out in their tweets that the ghee boxes kept behind were of a Pakistani brand, Shehbaz Banaspati.

Responding to the tweets, some users said that the photo is from 2014 and it was not taken in Pakistan but in India.

Intelligence and criminal investigations analyst Zaki Khalid took pictures from the official Facebook page of the non-profit organization Hands, in which many of the aid bags can be seen with “UK Aid” written on them.

Khalid in his analysis said that certain products were clear when zooming in on the image, such as Shehbaz ghee boxes, which, he said, were manufactured by a company in Sukkur.

He said that the product was sold not only in Sindh, but all over Pakistan, adding that the product was not exported to India.

‘HANDS Pakistan’ shared an image on Facebook on September 11, showing similar bags of flour in a camp apparently organized in collaboration with the World Food Program (WFP) in Naushehro Feroze, Sindh, Khalid tweeted.

Khalid added that there was no clear evidence of the commercial sale of aid bags and it was possible that one of the recipients of the aid was a shopkeeper and he shared a photo to acknowledge the relief efforts. The context of the image cannot be presumed just because it was taken in a shop.

He explained Twitter and Facebook remove all EXIF data associated with an image that is uploaded to these platforms, and it is not possible to extract forensic data from an image on these platforms.

“Therefore, ‘forensic analysis’ linkage with India is technically not possible.”

Pakistan is reeling from the devastations caused by catastrophic floods and the economic losses have surged to $18 billion. International organisations and friendly countries are sending aid.