A video of journalist Rana Ayyub is gathering a lot of traction on social media recently. The footage shows Ayyub surrounded by police officers and some other bystanders as she is being escorted into a vehicle. It has been claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is taking her into custody over a money laundering case worth Rs. 1.77 crore.
It is worth noting that Ayyub has been under the ED’s radar for alleged irregularities in charitable funds raised from public donors. NDTV reported that the agency issued a provisional order for the attachment of fixed deposits and bank deposits in the name of Ayyub and her family under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Media outlet The Logical Indian used the viral video in a Youtube video from February 11, reporting on the alleged money laundering case. The video was later taken down but its archived link can be viewed.
The Logical Indian attributed the video to Twitter handle @jdroy_. This handle tagged The Washington Post and shared a link to a report by right-wing propaganda platform OpIndia.
Twitter user Singh Saheb also tweeted the visuals claiming that the ED has arrested Rana Ayyub. (Archive link)
विदेशी पैसे ले कर पत्रकारिता के नाम पर देश में अफवाह और नफरत फैलाने वाली राणा अयूब धर ली गयी है,1.77 करोड़ रुपए ED ने किए अटैच, मनी लॉन्ड्रिंग का आरोप pic.twitter.com/HUaCnVIxWE
— Singh Sahab 🇮🇳 (@FireBall00007) February 11, 2022
‘@The_TanmayPatel’ also promoted the clip with the accompanying claim. Patel has identified himself as affiliated with BJP Gujarat. (Archive link)
विदेशी पैसे ले कर पत्रकारिता के नाम पर देश में अफवाह और नफरत फैलाने वाली राणा अयूब धर ली गयी है,1.77 करोड़ रुपए ED ने किए अटैच, मनी लॉन्ड्रिंग का आरोपpic.twitter.com/yxDqIcwpBJ
— Tanmay Patel (डिजिटल योद्धा) (@The_TanmayPatel) February 12, 2022
The 29-second clip is widespread on Facebook and Twitter.
Old video
We performed a keyword search on YouTube which led us to a Republic World report dated July 2, 2021. As per the outlet, this video of Ayyub was taken in Ghaziabad.
According to a Punjab Kesari UP report dated July 3, 2021, Ayyub had reached the Loni border police station in Ghaziabad to give a statement on the assault of an elderly man. Ayyub had shared a video of the assault from her Twitter account. The police filed a complaint against Twitter India and 10 others in the matter.
The sequence of events was as follows – a senior citizen named Abdul Samad was beaten. A video of this was tweeted by several journalists including Ayyub. Ghaziabad police registered a complaint against her and 10 individuals for stoking communal sentiments and sharing ‘fake news’.
Alt News reached out to Ayyub’s lawyer Saitik Banerjee for more information. He confirmed that the video was taken on July 2, 2021.
Hindi daily Hindustan also covered the incident. As shown in the clipping below, Ayyub can be seen exiting the Loni border police station along with her lawyer Saitik Banerjee. They are wearing the same clothes as in the viral video.
To sum it up, Rana Ayyub reached the Loni border police station to record her statement for sharing a video of an elderly man who was assaulted in Ghaziabad. A video from this incident was shared as Ayyub being arrested by the ED in the recent money laundering case.
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