A video showing a large quantity of jewelry spread across a table is going viral on X. The video is being circulated with the claim that this jewelry, totaling 128 kg of gold, ₹150 crore in cash, and 70 kg of diamonds, was seized from the home of a Tirupati temple priest.
Sanju Saran claimed, ‘Caught at a priest’s house in Tirupati- 128 kg gold, 150 crore cash, 70 kg of diamonds. Now think about those who donate money and jewellery to the temple.’
Er. Chaudhary Uttam Chand stated, ‘128 kg gold, Rs 150 crore cash and 70 kg diamonds recovered from priest’s house in Tirupati, the property which was distributed among relatives is separate, they are enjoying Ram Rajya brother.’
X handle Never Mind wrote, ‘Caught at priest’s house in Tirupati…128 kg gold, 150 crore cash. 70 kg of diamonds. Still Hindus are in danger from non Hindus.’
We began our fact-checking process by performing a reverse image search of the video. The search led us to a tweet by Mahalingam Ponnusamy dated December 2021. The tweet stated: ‘Vellore Police has arrested a burglar who drilled a hole into the wall of the Vellore Jos Alukkas jewellery store and fled with 15 kg of gold and diamond jewelry.’
Using this clue, we conducted a Google search with relevant keywords and found an article published by The Indian Express on December 22, 2021. According to the article: Following an arrest on Monday, police claimed to have solved the December 15,2021 burglary at a prominent jewelry showroom in Vellore. They recovered 15.9 kg of stolen gold and diamonds worth ₹8 crore from a burial ground in Odukathur.
Additionally, we found a report published by The Hindu on December 21, 2021, which corroborated the details. The article mentioned: ‘A week after the gold heist at a well-known jewellery showroom in Vellore, district police solved the case by arresting a suspect and recovering 16 kg of stolen gold and diamond jewelry, valued at ₹8 crore, from a graveyard in Odukathur.
Addressing the media, A.G. Babu, DIG (Vellore Range), confirmed that the suspect, T.K. Raman, 23, a resident of Kuchipalayam village near Pallikonda, was involved in the crime. He had prior cases of bike theft registered at the Pallikonda police station. He was arrested from his rented house in Odukathur, where the stolen jewelry had been buried in a graveyard.’
We also found a tweet by Vijay Kumar IPS, which included a photo of police officers posing with the recovered jewelry.
| Claim | Tirupati temple priest was caught with 128 kg of gold, ₹150 crore in cash, and 70 kg of diamonds |
| Claimed by | Social media users |
| Conclusion | The viral claim that a Tirupati temple priest was caught with 128 kg of gold, ₹150 crore in cash, and 70 kg of diamonds is false; it actually refers to a 2021 burglary case in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. The Vellore police apprehended the suspect and recovered the stolen valuables within a week. |
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