Photo of cash seized in Karnataka raid falsely linked to Andhra Pradesh politician

By: Rohith Gutta
October 25 2023

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Screenshots of posts on Social Media (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

The Income Tax Department searched the premises of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Gunnam Chandra Mouli on October 12. TDP is the main opposition party in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Amid this, a photo was shared on X (formerly Twitter) on October 13, with the caption, “The Income Tax Department officials reportedly conducted raids on the residence and other premises of Kakinada district TDP leader Gunnam Chandra Mouli,” suggesting that this photo is from the raid (archive here).

Another user shared a screenshot of this post on October 13, with the caption, “Money bags are being unearthed at the houses of TDP leaders (archive here)."

Screenshots of posts on Social Media (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this photo is not of the seizure at Mouli's premises.

What did we find?

A reverse image search revealed that the photo shows the cash seized by the Income Tax Department after searching the house of a contractor working with the Bengaluru civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Municipal Corporation (BBMP), on October 13.

According to a report in The Hindu income tax officials raided the properties linked to a prominent contractor in the city and recovered cash, speculated to be over ₹40 crore. The report carried the same photo as in the viral post. The report identified the contractor as R Ambikapathy, an office-bearer of multiple contractors’ associations in Karnataka. 

Screenshot of a picture featured in The Hindu, illustrating cash discovered during Income Tax searches at properties connected to contractor Ambikapathy in Bengaluru. (Source: The Hindu)

Similarly, The Times of India and The Asian Age carried the details of the search and the same photo in their reports.

Additionally, there are no reports of cash seized from Mouli's properites, nor are there any official photos released from the raids. 

The verdict

A photo of cash seized from the premises of a contractor in Bengaluru by the income tax department was shared as the photo of seizure from the premises of a TDP leader in Andhra Pradesh. Therefore, we have marked this claim false.