A set of two videos showing a large cache of cash being seized and two men being questioned by police, is being falsely linked to Border Security Force (BSF) Commandant Jibu D Mathew's arrest in 2018 when he was allegedly caught with ₹76 lakh in train.
BOOM found that the videos are unrelated to Mathew who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in January 2018 on charges of corruption and possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income under the Prevention of Corruption Act.. The visuals are from a separate incident from January, 2018, when cash was recovered from a builder in Kanpur.
The Claim: Video shows BSF Commandant Mathew caught with ₹76 lakh on a train and ₹96 crore was later found in his house
The videos are being shared on X with the caption, "Just imagine how many thousands of Bangladeshi he may have helped infiltrating to India for money. Unbelievable episode. Comdt 83 Bn BSF Jibu B Mathew Saar. Arrested by CBI Kochi unit while travelling in Shalimar Express. He had 76 lakhs rupees in cash. Interrogation in Alleppey. He is a resident of Pathanamthitta District Kerala. He was traveling with 76 lakhs on the train while nabbed. Then, during the search of his house, Rs 96 crores was recovered by the CBI. He was Posted at Indo Bangladesh border in West Bengal."
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What We Found:
1) Viral Video from 2018 Kanpur Cash Seizure Case
A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral videos showed that the visuals date back to January 2018 and are from a Kanpur police raid. We found several news reports on the raid, which involved the seizure of demonetised currency worth ₹96 crore from a builder named Anand Khatri and others. The reports mention that a huge amount of demonetised currency was stored in gunny bags at the builder’s ancestral house near Gole Chauraha in Swaroop Nagar, Kanpur.
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2) Mathew’s 2018 Arrest Unrelated To Videos
BSF Commandant Jibu D Mathew was arrested by the CBI in January 2018 at Alappuzha (Alleppey) railway station in Kerala. At the time of his arrest, reports stated that ₹45.3 lakh in cash was recovered from his luggage, and an additional ₹1.5 lakh was later seized from his residence. He was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income while serving with the 83rd Battalion along the India–Bangladesh border in West Bengal.
