A video of a priest allegedly stealing money from a temple’s donation box went viral on social media, claiming it to be an incident from the Ram Mandir, amid the controversy surrounding the theft of donation funds from the Ram Mandir.
Sharing the video, a user wrote, “Theft caught on secret CCTV cameras: Alleged theft of the donation box and jewellery at Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir was caught on hidden surveillance cameras installed by the temple administration. The footage exposed the accused and brought the entire incident to light.”
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However, upon investigation, we discovered that the claim was false. The viral video is old and unrelated to the Ram Mandir. Here’s the fact check.
Fact Check
We started our investigation by taking screenshots from the viral video and conducting a reverse image search. This led us to a longer and clearer version of the viral video on the Instagram handle of India Today on September 29, 2024.
According to the post, the video shows the theft of donations at Shri Gaali Aanjaneya Swamy Temple in Byatarayanapura.
Taking this clue, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This led us to the official YouTube channel of Tv9 Kannada, where a longer version of the video was uploaded on September 27, 2024.
According to the report, the video shows the theft of Gali Anjaneya Temple’s money.
Other reports can be read here and here.
This makes it clear that the viral video is old and unrelated to the Ram Mandir.
Conclusion
From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The viral video doesn’t show the theft of the donation box money at Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir. This is an old video from the Gali Anjaneya Temple in Bengaluru.
Title: Old Video From Gali Anjaneya Temple Is Going Viral Linking To The Ram Mandir Donation Box Money Theft.
Fact Check By: Debanjana Baishya
Result: False
