Hours before Maharashtra went to polls on November 20, 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) posted at least three fake AI generated audio clips on their official X (formerly Twitter) handle. These clips, shared late on November 19, claimed to be recorded conversations involving opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders Supriya Sule (NCP), Nana Patole (Congress), IPS officer Amitabh Gupta, and an employee of an audit firm, Gaurav Mehta.
The BJP alleged these recordings were “proof” of opposition leaders Supriya Sule (NCP Sharad Pawar) and Nano Patole (Congress) misappropriating bitcoins from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case to fund the ongoing state elections.
The other two individuals, whose voices are allegedly part of the audio clips as alleged by the BJP are Amitabh Gupta, currently Inspector General, Indo Tibetan Border Police and a Gaurav Mehta, employee of an audit firm, Sarathi Associates.
What Are the Allegations Against Supriya Sule and Nana Patole?
Former Pune police officer Ravindranath Patil alleged that Sule, Patole, IPS Amitabh Gupta (then Pune police commissioner), audit firm employee Gaurav Mehta, and IPS officer Bhagyashree Navtake were involved in misappropriating bitcoins. Patil also named three others in his allegation, IPS Amitabh Gupta who was then the Pune police Commissioner, Mehta from audit firm Sarathi and another IPS Bhagyashree Navtake, currently Chandrapur SP, Maharashtra State Reserve Police. News agency ANI reported Patil claimed he had been sent voice notes of conversations between the named people.
BJP soon latched on to these allegations and posted the four alleged voice notes.
In the fake recordings, voices purporting to be those of Sule and Patole can be heard asking for cash in exchange for bitcoins stored in the four crypto wallets and also promising no investigation into the matter.
Sambit Patra, national spokesperson of the BJP also held a press conference on Wednesday morning further amplifying the AI generated voice notes.
An archive of these posts can be seen here, here, here and here.
FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the voice notes posted by BJP are fake and generated using generative AI technology. We tested the audio clips using TrueMedia.org's deepfake detection tool available to journalists and researchers.
Three of the four audio clips showed substantial evidence of being AI generated. One of the voice notes, only five seconds long, was inconclusive due to its short duration but showed no evidence of being genuine.
We also heard the voice notes and compared the voices of Supriya Sule, Nana Patole and IPS Amitabh Gupta with publicly available interviews on YouTube. None of the voices in the audio posted by BJP match the original voices of the three.
VOICE NOTE 1: Audit firm employee Gaurav Mehta speaking to IPS Amitabh Gupta
In this voice note, a man identified as Gaurav Mehta, employee of an audit firm Sarathi Associates is heard speaking to IPS Amitabh Gupta who was then Pune police Commissioner.
We tested the audio clip using TrueMedia's AI deepfake detection tool which showed that there was substantial evidence of manipulation. View results here
VOICE NOTE 2: NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule Speaking to Gaurav Mehta
In this voice note, Sule is heard asking Mehta for cash in exchange for bitcoins without worrying about an investigation.
We compared Sule's voice in the voice note to her interview on Samdish Bhatia's video podcast, Unfiltered By Samdish in 2023. Both voices sound different from each other. Sule's original voice from an interview can be heard here.
The results TrueMedia's AI deepfake detection tool confirmed that there was substantial evidence of manipulation. Full results here
VOICE NOTE 3: Congress leader Nana Patole Speaking To IPS Amitabh Gupta
In this voice note, Patole is allegedly threatening IPS Amitabh Gupta to convert the bitcoin for cash.
TrueMedia.org's tool determined there was little evidence of manipulation. View results here. However, the recording is only 5 seconds long and is too short to be tested on current detection tools to give an accurate result.
We also compared Patole's voice in the audio recording to his interview on YouTube channel, JistNews, published on November 19, 2024. The voice in the audio note did not match Patole's original voice. His original voice can be heard here.
VOICE NOTE 4:Conversation Between IPS Amitabh Gupta and Gaurav Mehta
This is a voice note allegedly of IPS Gupta, the then Pune police commissioner speaking to Mehta, ensuring the compliance of cash for bitcoins as demanded by Sule and Patole.
We found several interviews by IPS Gupta on YouTube, none of them matching his voice as heard in the audio recording posted by BJP. His original voice from a March 15, 2024 interview can be heard here.
TrueMedia's tool confirmed that there was substantial evidence of manipulation by AI. View results here.
Additionally, the Misinformation Combat Alliance's Deepfake Analysis Unit (DAU), of which BOOM is a part of, analysed the viral audio clips using deepfake detection tools Hive, Hiya, True Media, Deepfake-o-meter. It found three of the audio clips were AI generated while one was found to show little evidence of manipulation.
The state of Maharashtra, which is voting on Wednesday (November 20), saw aggressive campaigning by parties with similar names and little else in common. Currently, the state is led by the Mahayuti alliance comprised of the chief minister Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena, BJP and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP. In opposition is the Maha Vikas Aghadi an alliance between Uddhav Thackery led Shiv Sena (Shiv Sena UBT), Congress and the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP.
