Social media posts claiming fake currency notes were seized from the car of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) supporter in Gujarat are misleading as the post combines two separate incidents not related to the organisation.
A set of three images showing a police press conference along with stacks of 2000-rupee counterfeit notes is going viral on Facebook with a claim that it shows fake currency seized in Gujarat.
The caption accompanying the photographs is in Hindi translates to: "store house of fake currency was seized in Gujarat. This secretly hidden treasure of fake notes was found in the car of honest and dedicated Sangh supporter Ketan Dave. Copy Paste"
(Translated from Hindi: गुजरात से नकली नोटों का भंडार पकड़ा गया| और ईमानदार संघ समर्थक श्री केतन दवे की कार से मिला ये नकली नोटों का जखीरा...| कापी पेस्ट)
It is viral on Twitter with the similar claims.
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BOOM ran a reverse image search on the viral photos. We found that the photos are from an incident that happened in Vemsoor Mandal of Telangana's Khammam district on November 2, 2019.
The photographs were taken when police in Telangana busted a racket of counterfeit currency and nabbed a gang of five with nearly Rs 6 crore worth of fake notes in 2,000 rupee denominations. The image shows Khammam Police Commissioner Tafseer Iqbal.
Right: Khammam Police Commissioner Tafseer Iqbal; Left: Policeman seen in the viral photo.
News articles published in Telangana Today and Financial Express state that the racket involved luring people under the guise of exchanging 2,000 rupee notes in exchange for a fee.
Below is an excerpt from the Financial Express:
"Telangana Police on Saturday busted an inter-state gang involved in the circulation of fake Rs 2000 notes. The incident took place in Vemsoor Mandal area of Khammam district where police have arrested five persons for cheating public in the guise of exchanging Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes and offering 20 per cent commission. The police have also seized 320 bundles of Rs 2,000 denomination fake notes worth Rs 6.4 crore. A detailed investigation is underway."
Asian News International had also tweeted the same photos as the viral ones on November 2, 2019.
Who is Ketan Dave?
The misleading posts have combined another incident from March 2017 in Rajkot Gujarat where a financier named Ketan Dave was arrested when one Nitin Ajani, a scrap dealer filed a cheating case against Dave.
"In one of the biggest fake currency seizures witnessed by the country after demonetisation, police recovered counterfeit notes of Rs 2,000 with a face value of over Rs 4.49 crore from two different locations in Rajkot over the last few days. Police officers, who spent an entire night counting the stash, said they recovered 22,479 fake copies of the new Rs 2,000 note in all," Hindustan Times reported on March 4, 2017.
Excerpt from the Hindustan Times' story
To read more on the 2017 Rajkot counterfeit currency case, click here and here. None of the news reports from either incident i.e. Telangana or Gujarat mention the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
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