Nice attack: Sikh man Veerender Jubbal wrongly identified on social media in France terror for second time

Canadian man previously said he would sue outlets over the incorrect claims

A Sikh man has been wrongly identified on social media as being involved in the deadly attack in Nice - having previously been incorrectly linked to the November terrorist assault on Paris.

Veerender Jubbal was wrongly named on social media as involved in a series of co-ordinated attacks that killed 130 people in Paris after an innocent selfie he took in front of the mirror was edited to show him wearing a suicide vest and holding the Quran.

The photo was later proved to be a hoax, but Mr Jubbal, a freelance tech journalist living in Canada, said he feared for his safety after it was circulated widely on social media.

At least 84 people, including many children, died in the suspected terror attack in Nice, which took place on Bastille Day celebrations in France. Eighteen more people are in a critical condition after a lorry hit crowds who had gathered to celebrate the French national day on Thursday evening. The driver who ploughed the lorry into the crowd has been identified as a 31-year-old French-Tunisian man in French media. He was shot by police.

Mr Jubbal is now being targeted by trolls again who have circulated the same image of him and suggesting he is involved in the massacre.

Simran Jeet Singh, a Senior Religion Fellow for the Sikh Coalition, shared a screenshot of a tweet from an account which is now suspended wrongly claiming his friend was “reportedly involved in the Nice terror attacks”.

Mr Singh told the Independent: “The earliest accusation was the tweet from Sam Hyde. [...] That's different than last year's Paris attacks when these accusations were circulated so widely that European news outlets picked them.”

Other social media users are now trying to shut down the false rumours with tweets also refuting them.

The Independent has approached Mr Jubbal for comment.