Fact Check: Video of a TTE taking money from an elderly man make a false claim, it is not related to Mahakumbh Mela
Mahakumbh Mela witnessed the third ‘Amrit Snan’ on February 3, 2025, on the occasion of Vasant Panchami. This is the

Claim :
Viral video shows a TTE taking money from an elderly passenger travelling to attend Mahakumbh MelaFact :
It is an old video from the year 2019 and has nothing to do with Mahakumbh Mela 2025
Mahakumbh Mela witnessed the third ‘Amrit Snan’ on February 3, 2025, on the occasion of Vasant Panchami. This is the first holy bathing ritual after the deadly stampede that occurred on the day of Mouni Amavasya. Then strict measures have been taken up as part of arrangements to ensure an incident-free Amrit Snan. Saints and seers gathered at the Triveni Sangam from as early as 4.30 am and took part in the Amirt Snan. They also cautioned the political leaders against misusing Sanatan Dharma and spreading rumors for political gain.
Devotees too are going to great lengths to take a dip in the Triveni Sangam during the Mahakumbh Mela. However, the airfares have gone up 4-5 times the normal rates. Though Indian Railways launched several special trains to reach Prayagaraj from different parts of the country, booking train tickets has been impossible. All tickets are on wait list with no chance of confirmation. Many people are buying tickets for longer routes and disembarking midway at Prayagraj or other nearby stations.
Amidst this, a video is in circulation claiming that a ticket collector forcibly takes money from an elderly passenger, who is going to Prayagraj to attend the Mahakumbh Mela. The video is shared virally wit the caption in Hindi “प्रयागराज, महाकुंभ में जाते हुए गरीब यात्री से इस TTE ने पूरे पैसे ही हड़प लिए।“ When translated, it claims: “This TTE snatched all the money from a poor passenger going to Mahakumbh in Prayagraj.”
Here is the archive link of the Claim.
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading.
When we searched the extracted keyframes from the video using Google reverse image search, we found that the video is an old one.
A X user shared the same video on June 23, 2019, with the caption in Hindi “आदरणीय केंद्रीय रेलमंत्री
@PiyushGoyal जी, आपके रेलवे डिपार्टमेंट में जमकर भ्रस्टाचारियो का बोलबाला है, यैसा ही एक वीडियो मैं भी इलाहबाद स्टेशन से जिगना स्टेशन के बीच बना रहा था तो मेरी मोबाइल छोड़ ली गई थी, कृपया इन भ्रस्ट कर्मचारियों पर करवाई करें.. @PMOIndia, @narendramodi”
When translated “Respected Union Railway Minister @PiyushGoyal , your railway department is full of corruption. I was making a similar video between Allahabad station and Jigana station when my mobile was snatched. Please take action against these corrupt employees. @PMOIndia @
The X account of Indian Railways ‘Railway Seva’ commented on this post asking the person sharing the post to share the travel details and when this incident happened so that they can investigate. They tagged @drmncraid which is the official X account of DRM Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Division of Mughalsarai Railway division of the Indian Railways.
Later DRM Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Division of Mughalsarai Railway Division responded stating ‘An explanation was sought from the concerned employee regarding the video clip. The incident took place 3-4 months ago. The employee said that he was taking money from the passenger for making the ticket and had made the ticket. The concerned employee has been suspended for detailed investigation.’
Upon further research, we found a report published by patrika.com on July 25, 2019, stating that the incident of a TTE snatching money from an old man in a moving train went viral on social media, and the Divisional Railway Manager Mughalsarai suspended the accused TTE and formed a team for investigation.
Therefore, the viral video showing TTE taking money from an elderly person on a moving train is in circulation with misleading claims. The video is an old one and is not related to Mahakumbh Mela.