Fact Check: Video of a corrupt officer breaking down after being caught red-handed is not recent
In India, corruption is still a major issue. Corruption can have detrimental effects on India's economy, including
Tahsildar office
In India, corruption is still a major issue. Corruption can have detrimental effects on India's economy, including unbalanced growth and skewed distribution. The World Bank estimates that India loses 0.5% of its GDP to corruption each year. Bribery is a criminal offense in India punishable by imprisonment, fines, or both. Under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), bribery is defined as accepting or offering a reward for exercising a right or inducing someone to exercise a right. The punishment for bribery is up to one year in prison, a fine, or both. Bribery by treating, which involves providing food, drink, entertainment, or other provisions, is only punishable by a fine. The Anti-Corruption Bureau is primarily responsible for the detection, investigation, and prosecution of cases of corruption among public servants and facilitating government departments to provide an honest, transparent, and clean administration.
A video showing ACB officers catching a deputy tahisldar in Karimnagar, for accepting bribe is in circulation on the social media with the claim that the video is recent. A YouTube channel, named Today News, shared the video of the official being caught by ACB in Karimnagar, with the title “Watch: Caught red-handed, corrupt official breaks down in Karimnagar district, video goes viral”. The 22 second video shows the ACB officials dipping the hands of the corrupt official into two glasses of water to perform the ‘Phenolphthalien test’. We can see the caught official breaking down.
A few news websites also shared screenshots of the viral video with the narrative claiming that the ACB nabbed a CC at the RDO office in Huzurabad, Karimanagar. The news articles were published on Telangana Today and also Safir News on December 22, 2024.
Here is the Screenshot of the Claim.
Fact Check:
The claim is Misleading. The viral video is not recent and the incident occurred in the year 2019.
When we extracted the keyframes from the viral video, and searched using Google reverse image search, we found that the video was published on YouTube 5 years ago. A YouTube channel named AZ-News Agency shared the video on December 16, 2019, with the title “AZ news: S. Sandeep Kumar RDO Huzurabad Karimnagar District Arrested By Anti Corruption Bureau”. The description of the video also states that S. Sandeep Kumar RDO Huzurabad Karimnagar District Arrested By Anti Corruption Bureau While Accepting 75,000/-.
We also found a news article published on the news website Newsmeter sharing screenshots of the viral video. The article states that the Anti Corruption Bureau officers caught Deputy Tahsildar Sriramoju Sandeep Kumar, serving at the Revenue Department in Huzuarabad of Karimnagar, red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 75,000.
The revenue officer demanded kickbacks from Adla Jogi Reddy to grant the NALA conversion certificate, pertaining to converting a non-agricultural land to agricultural. The ACB officers arrested Sandeep Kumar based on Joji Reddy’s complaint and produced the Deputy Tahsildar before a special court for ACB cases.
Therefore, the viral video is not recent, the incident occurred in December 2019. The claim that it is recent is Misleading.