Old video of cash being seized from tires falsely linked to 2023 Karnataka elections

By: Vivek J
May 9 2023

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Context

A video of cash being seized from vehicle tires is going viral on social media ahead of the 2023 assembly election in Karnataka, scheduled for May 10, 2023. Users on Twitter and Facebook shared the clip with a caption, "Forget RTGS, forget NEFT, Forget IMPS, forget mobile banking ….. here is the new method of funds transfer ! Karnataka election rockz (sic).”

Another post with over 25,000 views on Twitter, too, noted that this cash was seized during the “#KarnatakaElections.” This post carried had other hashtags like #bribe and #KarnatakaAssemblyElection2023. However, this video is old and unrelated to the upcoming elections in the state.

In Fact

We conducted reverse image searches on the keyframes from this video and found that one of the videos was shared by the news agency ANI (Asian News International) on April 20, 2019, on Twitter.

The post's caption read, “Rs 2.30 cr in cash stuffed inside the spare tire in a car seized by Income-Tax (I-T) officials. The cash was being transported from Bengaluru to Shivamogga. #Karnataka.” This tweet was also quoted in an NDTV news report which mentioned that the tax department had received this information during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, following which they intercepted a cash handler and searched the vehicle.

Using keywords, we looked for more information on the incident and came across a Deccan Herald report dated April 20, 2019, which quoted a statement released by the I-T department as saying, “The cash handler was intercepted and his vehicle searched during which cash in Rs 2,000 denominations was found inside the spare tire.” The report also noted that the cash was being transported from Bengaluru to Shivamogga and Bhadravati.

We also found multiple video news reports in Kannada on YouTube. An Asianet News Suvarna video report showed the same video and noted that I-T officials seized crores of rupees stashed inside a spare tire of a vehicle. This was one of the several instances where the Income Tax department had seized unaccounted money during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign.

Another video report by Public TV Kannada has also shown the same video where currency notes, in the Rs 2,000 denomination, were seized by I-T officials while being taken to Shivamogga from Bengaluru. Thus, it is clear that this video is from an incident that occurred four years ago in April 2019. It is unrelated to the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections.

The Verdict

A video of cash seized from a vehicle tire has gone viral on social media. Incidentally, some people linked it to the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections. However, this video is four years old and is reportedly from Shivamogga, Karnataka, where I-T officials seized cores of rupees during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.