CLAIM

Shocking Criminal Nexus between corrupt extortionist Police Officer & Modi. Rakesh Asthana transferred Rs 20 crore… https://t.co/e6lbkgSUjk — CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) 1540626230000

Yet another reason why PM Modi is backing Asthana - Asthana transfered Rs. 20 crore from Police Welfare Fund to BJP… https://t.co/NmEa2zxjOA — Ruchira Chaturvedi (@RuchiraC) 1540564672000

Modi’s “Blue eyed boy” in CBI Rakesh Asthana had given away Rs 20 crore from the Police Welfare Fund to the BJP ele… https://t.co/29KAuqsOXc — Ravi Nair (@t_d_h_nair) 1540641758000

TRUTH

VERIFICATION

No question arises of any fund transfer from Surat Police Welfare Fund to BJP. The allegations are a desperate atte… https://t.co/DqYKyMYCQf — Pradipsinh Jadeja (@PradipsinhGuj) 1540657704000

METHODOLOGY

Another #RakeshAsthana scam surfaces. A retired PSI from Surat emailed CBI on 23rd Oct alleging Asthana transferred… https://t.co/A5nJfwj6fO — TheAgeOfBananas (@iScrew) 1540507237000

An RTI activist sought details in 2015 about Police Welfare fund of Rs 20 crores but no details were furnished. The… https://t.co/x6K9voBBPw — TheAgeOfBananas (@iScrew) 1540507238000

VERDICT

Over the last few days, several news websites and Twitter accounts said that CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana had given away Rs 20 crore from the Police Welfare Fund to the BJP election fund when he was posted as Surat police commissioner, under the watch of then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi The report was originally carried on October 26 by Divya Bhaskar , Gujarati sister concern of national media house Dainik Bhaskar Group.It was later replicated in Hindi on Dainik Bhaskar Among other media houses who later made similar claims was also Ahmedabad Mirror , a Times Group publication, which published a report on October 27. It was later carried in Mumbai Mirror The reports were later picked up by several prominent accounts, including the official handle of CPI(M) and that of the national convener of the Congress party.It was also shared by independent Twitter users with significant following, which further made it go viral.The claims are fake and no such fund was transferred from the welfare fund.The Commissioner of Surat Police, Satish Sharma, outright rejected the claims and in a press note issued to local newspapers and news channels, called the reports “false”.“No amount whatsoever has been transferred from the Police Welfare Fund to the BJP during Rakesh Asthana’s tenure as Commissioner of Police, Surat,” read the press note.Following this, Gujarat home minister Pradipsinh Jadeja labelled the reports “baseless, malicious and utterly false”. He called the allegations a desperate attempt by opponents and rumour mongers to malign the BJP government in the state.Ahmedabad Mirror, in today’s edition, apologized to Jadeja for not including his version in their story. The apology came along with a detailed account of Jadeja, who lambasted the fake accusations and lies being spread about misappropriation of fund to slander the integrity of BJP.Since the news reports were based on an email sent by some retired police sub-inspector to the CBI, we dug deeper using keywords on various social networking sites and found a tweet dated October 26, which appears to be the first mention of such an email.As per Twitter handle @iScrew, the email alleging “Asthana transferred 20 crore” was sent on October 23.However, these are all unverified claims.Times Fact Check has found reports of Rakesh Asthana transferring 20 crore to BJP from police welfare fund to be fake.