CLAIM
A viral video on social media claims that Bollywood actor Aamir Khan sent a truck to a slum area with wheat bags, and it was announced that anyone who wants wheat could take a bag, but only one bag per person would be allowed.
A person can be heard saying in the video that when people returned to their homes after taking wheat, they found Rs 15,000 in the wheat sacks. The video is a split screen wherein one person can be heard mentioning the details of the donation, while on the other side, an image of Aamir Khan can be seen. However, the video doesn’t mention where the incident occurred.
Several social media users have shared the video on Facebook and Twitter lauding Aamir Khan’s efforts.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The claim along with the video is false. The actor took to Twitter to clarify that he hasn’t done any such thing.
Earlier, Khan's PR team too had told The Quint that the actor has nothing to with this.
Further we also contacted Sameer Khan, the man narrating the story in the video. Khan told The Quint that he has only narrated what he has heard and nowhere in the video does he name Aamir Khan as the anonymous donor.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We found that a TikTok user by the handle @quaziaziz had uploaded a video in which a man can be heard thanking a person for making a different kind of donation.
However, throughout the video, he does not mention Aamir Khan’s name anywhere.
Further, we came across a Facebook post that had uploaded a TikTok video of user @tannu000786. While searching for the video uploaded by this user on TikTok, we came across an archived link that was of a TikTok user called “Crazy traveller” by the handle @khansaheb028.
We found that the user had indeed uploaded the selfie video and he made no mention of Aamir Khan in the video.
NOT A PERSONAL ACCOUNT: MAN SEEN IN THE VIDEO
The TikTok user, ie Sameer Khan, who is based out of Mumbai told The Quint that he has not personally witnessed the incident.
“This incident happened in Surat, Sandesh newspaper covered it on 20 April. I don’t know who the person is. Everyone says it’s Aamir Khan but I don’t believe that. I haven’t mentioned Aamir Khan anywhere.”Sameer Khan, man in the viral video
We found that Sandesh news had indeed covered the incident on 20 April, however, when the article was translated using Google translate, we found that the report does not mention anybody’s name. The report mentioned that the incident happened in Surat’s Rander area.
A local journalist confirmed to The Quint that such an information was circulating few days ago, however, they have not been able to verify it yet.
“There was news that a person in Surat’s Rander area has made a donation of Rs 15,000 in a unique way, however, when I went to the area, the locals told me that no such donation was made. Neither has the name of the donor come out, nor do we know who received the money, if at all,” he said.
Further, in a conversation with The Quint, Aamir Khan's PR team denied the actor having to do anything with this.
A story based on the TikTok video was published by news agency IANS on Monday, 27 April, with a caveat that the ‘authenticity of the video or the incident has not been established yet’.
Evidently, several social media users falsely claimed that Aamir Khan made a special donation based on a manipulated TikTok video.
(Update: The story has been updated with Aamir Khan’s denial.)
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