An old video showing a large stack of Indian currency notes stored inside a room is being shared on social media falsely linking it to the recent seizure of cash by police from a car in Pune near Khed Shivapur toll on Pune-Bengaluru highway.
The video was posted by Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA Rohit Pawar falsely linking it to the cash seized in Pune.
Part of the caption from Pawar's post when translated to English reads, "25- 25 crores are said to have been given to the ruling party candidates as the first installment for the elections and yesterday one of these trains was caught from Khed-Shivapur #डोंगार_झाडीमध्ये . Found one car but where are the other four cars?.."
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The same video was also posted by Shiv Sena (UBT)'s official X handle linking it to the recent incident of cash seized in Pune, and alleging it belonged to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's party Shiv Sena. The caption when translated from Marathi to English reads, "Shocking video of crores of notes found in the car of Mindhe group MLA at Khed-Shivapur toll post viral?"
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The same video was also carried by Hindi news outlet News 24, and Marathi news channel ABP Majha attributing it to Pawar, however not mentioning that the video is old and not related to the recent seizure.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video dates back at least to May 2020 and is not related the recent seizure of ₹5 crore in cash from a car in Pune district.
Viral video dates back to 2020
We ran a reverse image search using Google on key-frames in the video, and the search results showed that the same video was earlier posted on YouTube with the same music in September 2021.
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The earliest post we were able to trace was posted in May 2020 with another background music and a logo of the video posting app Likee
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Pune Rural police on viral video
BOOM then reached out to Pune Rural Police who confirmed that the viral video is not related to the case, adding that no footage of the cash seized has been released by the police.
"Five crores was recovered from the car, we did not find any political link of the four people who were detained yet. Police did take footage of the cash that was seized, but has not released that to the media. The video circulating is old and not related to the case," an official from Pune Rural Police, who wished to remain anonymous told BOOM.
BOOM could not establish in what context the video was shot or if the notes in the viral video are genuine or counterfeit, however we were able to establish that the video is old and is not related to case.
What we know so far regarding ₹5 crore seized from the car in Pune
Unaccounted cash worth ₹5 crore was seized from a car by Pune police at the Khed Shivapur toll plaza on the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway on October 21, 2024. Pune rural police seized the cash from an Innova Crysta bearing registration number MH 45 AS 2526.
Pune rural police initially said that the four individuals — Sagar Patil, Rafiq Nadaf, Balasaheb Asabe, and the car’s driver, Shashikant Koli — from Sangola tehsil in Solapur district were detained in connection with the seizure. Later, they were released. The cash was handed over to officials of the Income Tax Department for further investigation, according to Pune police. The code of conduct is in force in Maharashtra, as assembly elections are slated for November 20, 2024.
On October 22, 2024, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) MLA Shahaji Bapu Patil from Sangola denied any connection to the incident after his name was being associated with the four people detailed who are from his constituency. His response came after Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, criticised the Mahayuti alliance, alleging that the Innova in question belonged to a Shiv Sena MLA from Eknath Shinde’s faction.