Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s Pakistan Trip: Fake News Strikes Again

Fake letter claims Siddaramaiah visited Karachi in April 2018.

This fake letter has been doing round on the social media, with the claim that money was being transported.

Photo: The Quint/Harsh Sahani

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Fake news continues to flood poll-bound Karnataka, and the latest creation of the fake news factories is a letter claiming Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress leader Zameer Ahmed made a one-day trip to Pakistan’s Karachi in April.

The photograph of the fake letter doing rounds. Photo: Twitter 

The letter claimed that on 13 April 2018, a flight took off from Mumbai to Karachi at 5 pm and landed Karachi at 6:15 pm. The flight, which lasted mere one hour 15 minutes, had no passengers.

As per the fake letter, the flight from Karachi to Delhi took off at 7 pm sharp and reached Delhi 9:10 pm. This flight had two passengers – Siddaramaiah (without any initials) and Zameer Ahmed. These two passengers then left Delhi at 11:45 pm and reached Bengaluru 2 am.

This fake letter has been doing round on the social media, with the claim that money was being transported.

Aviation Firm Calls the Letter Fake

The fake letter has been printed on the letterhead of VSR Aviation, an aviation firm based in New Delhi, and signed by one Ashish Bhandouria, his designation mentioned simply as ‘operations’.

When The Quint contacted Ashish Bhandouria he said that the letter is fake. He, however, refused to divulge more information and his position in the company.

Siddaramaiah Was in Delhi

Karnataka Chief Minister’s Office dismissed the letter as fake. According to Siddaramaiah’s office he was attending the Congress party’s candidate selection meeting in New Delhi on 13 April, the date mentioned in the fake letter.

A photograph taken on 14 April at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi. Photo: The Quint

Even though the letter says he returned to Bengaluru in the wee hours of 14 April, on the same day Siddaramaiah was photographed participating in Ambedkar Jayanthi celebrations at Karnataka Bhavan in Delhi.

Soon many called the bluff, Congress spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa demanded a probe by the CID.

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