Fact Check: ED recovers temple-stolen jewellery from Tirupati’s Muslim PRO's house? No, viral video is from Tamil Nadu
A video of a massive jewellery haul is being shared with false claims that the Enforcement Directorate recovered stolen temple valuables from the house of Nishka Begum, who was allegedly a PRO at TTD.
By Md Mahfooz Alam
Claim:The video shows the ED recovering jewellery from the house of Nishka Begum, a Muslim woman who served as PRO at Tirupati temple during the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
Fact:False. The video shows jewellery recovered from a suspect in a 2021 burglary at a jewellery shop in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
A video showing a large display of jewellery on a table is circulating on social media, with claims that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered the items during a raid at the residence of Nishka Begum—a Muslim woman alleged to have served as the Public Relations Officer (PRO) at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) during the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government. It is also claimed that she had stolen the valuables from the temple.
An X user shared the video and wrote, “ED raid in the house of Mrs. Nishka Begum, who was the public relations officer at Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam during the YSR Jagan government. See the loot. With such huge pilferage and loot, one can open a jewellery showroom.” (Archive)
The same claim is also viral on WhatsApp.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found the claim to be false. The video is unrelated to Tirupati or the ED and shows jewellery recovered by the police after a 2021 burglary at a jewellery shop in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
A reverse image search of the video's keyframes led us to a video report by BBC News Tamil published on December 22, 2021. The visuals match the viral video—numerous gold ornaments are placed on a large table surrounded by people.
The report starts with CCTV footage of a burglar inside a jewellery store, followed by the police displaying the recovered items. The shop was identified as Jos Alukkas, and the report titled the case as the Vellore Jewellery Robbery. The video also showed a hole in the shop’s wall through which the burglar had entered.
Using this information, we found a report published by The Hindu on December 21, 2021, which stated that Vellore police arrested a suspect and recovered 16 kg of gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 8 crore from a graveyard in Odugathur, Vellore district.
AG Babu, DIG (Vellore Range), told the media that the arrested suspect, 23-year-old TK Raman from Kuchipalayam near Pallikonda, had buried the stolen jewellery in a graveyard near his rented home. Raman had a criminal background and was previously booked in two bike theft cases.
According to an India Today report published on the same day, Raman had trained himself in burglary techniques by watching YouTube videos. He spent 10 days drilling a hole into the wall of the Jos Alukkas jewellery store on Katpadi Road, Vellore, and stole nearly 16 kg of gold without triggering alarms or leaving behind evidence. He was arrested five days later.
In January 2025, TTD issued an official clarification on X and Facebook, debunking the false claims. It stated that Mubina Nishka Begum was never employed by TTD in any capacity and denied that any ED raid took place at her residence. TTD also warned of legal action against those spreading misinformation that could mislead devotees and incite communal sentiments.
The viral video has nothing to do with the Tirupati temple, ED, or any former PRO. It shows visuals from a 2021 police recovery after a jewellery heist in Vellore. The claim linking it to Nishka Begum and TTD is completely false.
This story was first published by NewsMeter on January 6.
