Fact Check: Video showing cash stashed in a tyre ahead of Karnataka polls is not recent incident
A video of cash found in a tyre in Bengaluru is circulating on social media with a claim linking it to the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. The video shows a group of men slitting a tyre and recovering bundles of currency notes from it.
A video of cash found in a tyre in Bengaluru is circulating on social media with a claim linking it to the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. The video shows a group of men slitting a tyre and recovering bundles of currency notes from it.
Netizens are sharing the video ahead of the elections with the hashtag, “#
FACT CHECK:
We performed a reverse image search and found several news reports from 2019 about the incident. According to Bangalore Mirror and Times Now News, in April 2019, the Income Tax Department seized Rs 2.3 crore from the spare tyre of a car heading towards Bhadravati. The vehicle was traveling from Karnataka's state capital Bengaluru to Shimoga and Bhadravathi. The IT officials pulled out wads of cash from the stepney of the vehicle.
In the video, officials can be seen sitting on the floor of a room with the tyre. While one official holds up the tyre, another official takes out bundles of ₹2,000 notes.
The same was also reported by Deccan Herald and NDTV. A press release stated that on April 21, 2019 officials intercepted a cash handler and searched his vehicle. The cash was found stuffed in the spare tyre of the vehicle. The intelligence department said he was accumulating money for distribution during the Lok Sabha polls as people in Shivamogga were about to cast their votes on April 23 of that year.
Even ANI tweeted a slightly shorter version of the viral video on April 20, 2019.
Evidently, an old video is falsely linked to the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. The claim is false and this is not a recent event.