A dubious message is doing the rounds on WhatsApp with the claim that the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) conducted a raid at the residence of NDTV co-founders Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy and made some sensational discoveries about them.
However, in reality, neither a raid has been carried out at the Roys' properties recently nor any secrets have been uncovered.
The claim
The WhatsApp forward alleges that the CBI unearthed Prannoy Roy's birth certificate which stated that his real name is Parvez Raja and that he hails from Karachi, Pakistan. Furthermore, the probing agency is said to have found a dartboard which has Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face as the target.
Below is the full text of the message:
"CBI raided NDTV's owner Prannoy Roy and divulged a lot of secrets. Roy's birth certificate was discovered and according to that his real name is Parvez Raja, and the place of his birth, Karachi. According to another secret document discovered, the full form of NDTV is Nawazud Din Taufik Venchar, the name of Prannoy Roy's father. His wife Radhika's real name is Rahila. A dartboard has been found in his bedroom that uses Narendra Modi's face as a target. For every Indian, it is time to open your eyes and recognise these two-faced people. Whoever does not forward this message to 10 WhatsApp groups is probably doing a disservice to the motherland."
Fact-Check
While verifying the rather vague message, International Business Times, India, found that it had first surfaced in 2017, when the CBI actually raided the premises of the Roy couple.
As for the claims made in the text, we cross-checked the CBI's official statement on the matter and did not come across any such revelations. The CBI had stated that the raid was in connection with the alleged wrongful gain of Rs 48 crore to the co-founders.
"The allegations under investigation are not regarding the default in loan repayment, but relate to the wrongful gain of Rs 48 crore to the promoters and a corresponding wrongful loss to the ICICI bank arising from their collusion and criminal conspiracy," the agency's statement read.
Moreover, there is not a single media report talking about the findings claimed by the WhatsApp forward. Therefore, the message can be dubbed as completely baseless.
