Fact Check: Video Of People Searching For Diamonds On Road In Surat Going Viral With False Claims

New Delhi Vishvas Team – A video is becoming increasingly viral on social media in which people can be seen searching for something on the road. This video is being widely shared, with claims that it depicts a scene from the diamond market in Surat, where a businessman, frustrated with the recession, threw all his diamonds on the road. Vishvas News, in its investigation, found that the claim being made about the viral video is false. In reality, the rumour of diamonds falling into the market had spread, leading people to start searching for diamonds on the road. This video is being shared with misleading claims.

What is going viral?

While sharing the viral video on September 25, 2023, Facebook user ‘Premsagar Pal’ (Archive) wrote in the caption, “For the first time in history…Diamond traders, troubled by the severe recession in the diamond market of Surat, threw diamonds on the road. This is beyond imagination but it is possible only because Modi is there.”

Vishvas News Investigation:

To know the truth of the viral claim, we started searching on Google with related keywords. We found a report related to the claim on the Economic Times website. The report, published on September 25, 2023, stated, “A rumor spread near Mini Bazaar Varacha that a diamond belonging to a businessman had fallen there, which is worth crores. Then people started searching for it.”

According to the report published on India.com on September 26, 2023, “After a rumor spread in Surat, Gujarat, people were seen searching for diamonds on the road. Videos of people searching for diamonds are also going viral on social media.”

According to the report by Ahmedabad Mirror, a message had gone viral that diamonds worth crores of rupees of a businessman in Varacha, a mini market famous for diamond business in Surat, accidentally fell on the road. After the spread of this news, a large number of people were seen searching for diamonds on the road.

According to the report by Ahmedabad Mirror, “A rumour spread in the Varachha area of Surat that a businessman’s diamond packet had fallen, after which people came to the streets and started searching for diamonds. The report also contains the statement of one person present there. The person said that “diamonds were found there, but they were fake.”

Vishvas News contacted Gujarati Jagran’s Surat reporter Mayur Thakur in the next phase of the investigation. He told us, “The claims being made regarding the viral video are false. This video is about two days old. Due to rumor spreading in Varachha area of Surat, people started searching for diamonds. Later it was found that they were not real diamonds but fake pearls, which were put on clothes.”

We spoke to a local diamond merchant from the Varachha area to get more information about this claim. He told us, “The viral claim is fake. Someone had mischievously placed pearls there and spread a rumour, after which people started gathering there. Then this video started being shared on social media with false claims.”

Finally, we scanned the user who shared the video with the misleading claim. We found that the user is followed by 2,531 people.