No, cash worth Rs 8 crores was not seized from Andhra Pradesh politician Nara Lokesh’s car

What is the claim?

A 13-second video which shows police personnel checking a convoy of cars was shared on social media with a claim that eight crores in cash was confiscated from a vehicle in which Telugu Desam Party (TDP) General Secretary Nara Lokesh, also the candidate from Mangalagiri constituency, was traveling. Archived versions of posts sharing the clip can be accessed here, here, and here. The claim is also being shared on WhatsApp.

The video comes on the back of the Assembly elections in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh in India. The elections will be held on May 13 and the result will be declared on June 4, along with the results of the general elections. With the declaration of the election dates, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) — a set of guidelines to govern the conduct of political parties laid down by the Election Commission of India (ECI) — came into force on March 16.

The MCC allows the election commissions of the respective states to seize money above Rs 50,000 found in the vehicle of a contesting candidate. 

Screenshot of the viral social media post (Source: Whatsapp/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

What did we find?

We looked for news reports of cash seizures from Lokesh’s vehicles. There are no such credible reports. Using relevant keywords, we found that the viral video is a shorter version of a longer video of police checking Lokesh’s vehicle on March 20 at Undavalli village. Undavalli village falls under the jurisdiction of Tadepalli Police Station in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.

Various Telugu news channels, such as ABN and Mahaa News carried this video in their reports on the incident. The ABN report said that Nara Lokesh was traveling in a five-vehicle convoy, and the police stopped him and his team for a check while the political leader was on his way to a campaign meeting. The report adds that the police did not find anything in their searches. Such police checks are routinely conducted before elections after the MCC comes into force.

Logically Facts also contacted officials from the Tadepalli Police Station, who conducted the checking exercise on March 20. Sub-inspector A Srinivas dismissed the claim that the police seized Rs 8 crore in cash. He said that he and his team carried out the exercise and that no currency notes were found in Lokesh’s vehicles during the check.

The verdict

While Nara Lokesh’s vehicles were checked to enforce MCC in the state, no cash has been seized from any of his cars to date. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.