Fact Check: Video showing bundles of currency seized is not from Anakapalle MP candidate's aide
The Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh will witness a tight fight between the ruling party YSRCP, led by the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and the TDP-BJP-Janasena alliance, led by former 3-time chief minister Chandrababu Naidu
The Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh will witness a tight fight between the ruling party YSRCP, led by the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and the TDP-BJP-Janasena alliance, led by former 3-time chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. With around 4 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise, it will be a huge polling on May 13, 2024.
Meanwhile, a video showing a huge stack of currency notes is in circulation on various platforms of social media with the claim that the bundles of cash were confiscated from the house of a supporter of TDP-BJP-Janasena candidate of Anakapalle. The alliance’s MP candidate from Anakapalle constituency is CM Ramesh of the BJP party. Recently, Prime Minister Modi campaigned in Anakapalle and addressed a public gathering on behalf of the BJP.
The claim in Telugu goes ‘అనకాపల్లి కూటమి ఎంపీ అభ్యర్థి ముఖ్య అనుచరుడి ఇంట్లో బయటపడ్డ నోట్ల కట్టలు.’ When translated, it claims: ‘Bundles of notes found in the house of the main supporter of Anakapalle alliance MP candidate’
Fact check:
The claim is False. The video shows bundles of cash in the house of the daily help of a supporter of a Jharkhand minister.
When we searched reports about the Enforcement Directorate raid on the Anakapalle BJP MP candidate CM Ramesh, we did not find any reports of confiscation of bundles of cash.
A report of a police case being registered against the MP candidate CM Ramesh in a fraud case was published on Oneindia.com. The article stated that CM Ramesh allegedly obstructed the duties of some government officials and threatened them.
When we searched the keyframes extracted from the video using Google reverse image search, we found that the video was published on May 6, and the video was shot in Jharkhand and not Andhra Pradesh.
A news report published by V6 News and also TV9 Telugu on Facebook, states that ED raided the house of the daily help of a supporter of a Minister in Jharkhand. More than Rs 30 crore of black money was seized by the ED sleuths during raids held to probe a money laundering case.
According to an NDTV report, a mountain of cash was found during ED raid at the house of a house help of the Jharkhand Minister’s aide. On this Monday, the ED launched a series of raids across multiple locations in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi, leading to the discovery of ₹ 25 crore unaccounted cash.
The recent raids, conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), have targeted approximately half a dozen locations linked to Virendra Ram, the former chief engineer at the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, and his inner circle. Virendra Ram was arrested by the ED in February 2023 in connection with a money laundering case.
ANI also shared the longer version of the viral video on X (Twitter) with the caption “Counting of notes still underway at the residence of household help of Sanjiv Lal - PS to Jharkhand Rural Development minister Alamgir Alam in Ranchi where a large amount of cash has been recovered so far.
More than Rs 20 crore has been counted so far. The Enforcement Directorate is conducting raids at multiple locations in Ranchi in connection with the Virendra Ram case. ED arrested Virendra K. Ram, the chief engineer in the Jharkhand Rural Development Department, in February 2023 in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the implementation of some schemes.”
Hence, the viral video showing bundles of cash is not from Andhra Pradesh, it is from the house of a daily help of a supporter of Jharkhand minister. The claim is False.