The DMK leader and former Union Minister, A Raja alleged a “huge scam” in the 5G spectrum auction that concluded last week. Targeting the centre he said, “The government has itself estimated that 5G would be sold up to ₹5 lakh crore. But now 5G has been auctioned for only ₹1.5 lakh crore.” He hit out at the government asking, “Where has the money gone?”

In this context, an image showing the front page of Times Of India stating “5G spectrum auction suffers a record loss of ₹2.8 lakh crore” is doing the rounds on social media platforms. Newschecker found the viral image to be edited.

Several Facebook and Twitter users shared the image believing it to be authentic.

Links to such posts can be found here, here, here and here. 

Another newspaper clipping showing The New Indian Express featuring a photo of PM Modi, repeating the same claim is also being widely shared. 

Newschecker received the same image on our WhatsApp tipline ( +91- 9999499044 ) requesting to be fact checked

The 5G spectrum auction which began on July 26 fetched the government around Rs 1.5 trillion. Four companies, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks, Bharti Airtel and Vi, participated in the auction. Ambani’s Jio emerged as the largest bidder with Rs 88,078 crore worth of bids, followed by Bharti Airtel at Rs 43,084 crore.

Also Read: Did TIME Magazine Cover Equate PM Modi With Hitler? No, Viral Image Is Fake

Fact Check/Verification

To verify if the images were authentic, Newschecker fact checked the viral images one by one.

Image 1

We noticed that the font used for the headline was different from the standard font used by Times Of India. 

On analysing the viral screenshot further, we found no mention of the alleged loss in the article. Rather, the article, penned by one Pankaj Doval, states, “It (5G spectrum auction) fetched a record Rs 1. 5 lakh crore for the exchequer as the government now prepares to launch the high-speed telecom services from October this year across metros and top cities.”

We noticed ‘The Times Of India, Chennai | Tuesday, August 2, 2022’ written on top centre of the front page. Taking a clue, Newschecker looked up the Chennai edition of Times Of India epaper dated August 2, 2022 and found the same report by Pankaj Doval in the e-paper, but with a different headline. The article was titled ‘5G spectrum auctions earn Centre record Rs 1.5 lakh crore’, and not the one seen in the viral image. 

Newschecker also found a tweet by Pankaj Doval, the author of the article and National editor at TOI, which carried a screengrab of the business page of the epaper on August 2. The caption read, “That’s how the Business Page looks like when you start the day with record spectrum auctions, and end the day with record auto sales…”

Based on our findings, we conclude that the original headline of the article was altered and shared claiming that the government suffered a record loss in the auction.

Image 2

On a cursory look at the viral image, we noticed that the masthead read “The New Indian Experso” instead of “The New Indian Express”. 

We further noticed that the date of publishing was November 11, 2010. A Google reverse image search of the viral image led us to an article by Scoop Whoop, dated September 2, 2017 which carried a newspaper clipping similar to the viral image. However, instead of PM Modi’s image, it featured former telecom minister A Raja. The headline read “LOSS TO THE NATION 1760000000000.”  The strap line said, “A Raja deprived govt of the much money in 2G spectrum allocation: CAG report.” 

Raja ,who was one of the accused in the 2G scam, was acquitted by a special court in 2017 along with other accused. However, a hearing in the case is pending in the Delhi High Court.

Conclusion

Viral images of Times Of India and The New Indian Express newspaper pages declaring an alleged loss of ₹2.8 lakh crore in the recently held 5G auction are manipulated.

Result: Altered Photo

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