No, a trader did not throw real diamonds on the streets in Gujarat

By: Soham Shah
September 26 2023

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Posts by Jignesh Mevani and others claiming diamonds were thrown on a Surat street. (Source:X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

A video is being shared on X (formerly Twitter) with the claim that a diamond trader in Surat, Gujarat, was forced to throw away his diamonds on the street due to the poor condition of the diamond market.

Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani was among those who shared the video on September 25, with the caption, “Amid all the hype and claims of economic revolution in the country in last 9 years, a Surat based diamond trader was forced to throw away his diamonds on the streets after getting frustrated over failure to create demand for his business in the current challenging business environment. Scores of people are seen collecting the thrown diamond from the streets. We can now imagine the dire state of the diamond industry in Surat which has been hit by dwindling exports. #Gujarat." Mevani’s video received over 260k views. Archive links to the posts can be found here and here. 

The X post shared by Jignesh Mevani. (Source: X/Screenshot)

However, the diamonds found strewn on the ground in Surat were fake. 

 What is the truth?

We found an article by Ahmedabad Mirror titled, “Heartless Prank? Surtis Search Streets For Lost Diamonds,” published on September 25, which says that the diamonds found on the street were fake. The article mentions that rumors of an unidentified person dropping diamonds on the street led to locals searching for them on September 24. It also mentions that the Varachha area is “a well-known mini bazaar for the sale and purchase of diamonds.”

The report also quotes Arvind Panseria, one of the people looking for the diamonds in Surat, as saying, “One man found a diamond, but it turned out to be a duplicate diamond — American diamond that is used in imitation jewelry or saree work. It seems somebody played a prank that caught the fancy of people.”

Police Inspector Alpesh Gabani of the Varachha Police Station in Surat confirmed to Logically Facts that the diamonds were fake. He said, “There is no truth to the incident [as described in the X post]. The stones were embroidery stones and not real diamonds.”

Logically Facts also contacted Surat-based journalist Manish Parmar from Sandesh News, who said, “It's not confirmed who threw these diamonds, but it was probably a prank. They are plastic diamonds used on rakhis and sarees, the total cost is not even Rs 200. They are commonly found thrown around in the city, but this time, somehow, people thought they were real diamonds and started collecting them on the streets, and the video went viral.”

The verdict

We mark this claim as false as the police and a local journalist have confirmed that the diamonds were fake. People who joined in the search for these diamonds only found fake stones used in embroidery work.