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| - A video showing a large number of gold jewellery laid out on a table is being shared on social media, where users have linked it to an official working for the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).
The claim: Those sharing this video have claimed that it shows jewellery found during a recent raid conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), at the residence of one Nishka Begum, the former Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the TTD.
They also question"how a Muslim lady was appointed PRO of a Prestigious Religious Sanatan Org (sic)."
The Quint also received queries to verify this claim on our WhatsApp tipline.
(Archived versions of more claims can be seen here and here.)
Is it true?: No, the TTD clarified that the video had no connection to their organisation and that they had never employed a person named Nishka Begum.
How did we find out the truth?: We ran a keyword search for 'Nishka Begum TTD' on Google to look for more information.
This led us to an Instagram post by the TTD's verified Instagram account, which addressed the viral claim, stating the "TTD never had such a person as Public Relations Officer," while referring to the name Mubina Nishka Begum.
"The video clip posted on social media is also not related to TTD," it read.
The same information was also shared on their website in Tamil and English.
What about the video?: We ran a reverse image search on a screenshot of the viral video using Yandex, a Russian search engine, which led us to a YouTube video by Tamil news outlet Jaya News.
The video was titled, "Jewelery Shop Robber Locked In Vellore Central Jail | Vellore | 15 kg Gold Stolen From Jewelery Store," in Tamil, and the anchor mentioned that the theft occurred at a Jos Alukkas store.
It was published on 22 December 2021.
Subsequently, we ran a keyword search for 'Jos Alukkas Vellore theft', which returned several news reports from December 2021.
A Times of India report said that Vellore police had arrested a 22-year-old man identified as V Teekaraman for stealing 15.9 kilograms of jewellery from a Jos Alukkas store in Vellore.
The man had reportedly drilled a hole on the back wall of the building to steal expensive gold and diamond jewellery while donning a mask resembling a lion, and later hid all of it in a graveyard.
The group of robbers had also stolen 500 grams of gold from the store in Thottapalayam, a report by The News Minute said.
Some of the recovered items included jewellery that was melted down and hidden in shrubs, it added, saying that the theft took place after 10 pm on 15 December 2021.
A 2023 article by The Hindu said that Teekaraman was sentenced to three years imprisonment by the court and was liable to pay a ₹1,000 fine.
Conclusion: An old video has gone viral with the false claim that it shows gold recovered during an ED raid from the residence of former TTD PRO Nishka Begum.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
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