BJP leader Agnimitra Paul shares AI video claiming TMC’s Bratya Basu was caught on camera accepting bribe

On the eve of the second phase of West Bengal elections, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party’s Asansol South candidate Agnimitra Paul shared a video purportedly showing Trinamool Congress leader and incumbent education minister Bratya Basu accepting bribes. (archive)

Allegations have surfaced against West Bengal’s Education Minister Bratya Basu, alleging bribes were taken after his application was approved.

Such serious charges require a transparent and fair investigation. pic.twitter.com/1XnJJwM19u

— Agnimitra Paul BJP (@paulagnimitra1) April 28, 2026

User @BhairavVaam also tweeted the same video with the same claim. (archive)

#Breaking news 🚨 #kolkata
Just before the second phase elections, a video was released of West Bengal Education Minister Burapta Basu accepting bundles of cash in exchange for signing a file.

Even in the midst of elections, the TMC’s sole focus is to plunder the people. pic.twitter.com/ZTHgi0wUBU

— Bhairav ​​🔱🕉️ 🇮🇳 (@BhairavVaam) April 27, 2026

fact check

This viral video shows multiple visual discrepancies consistent with typical AI-generated artifacts. At the beginning, while Bass was on the phone, his mouth twisted for a moment in the middle of speaking. Immediately after that, when I raise my left hand, my thumb disappears momentarily and reappears in the next frame. The slowed-down clip below highlights these irregularities more clearly.

When we see Basu flipping through the pages of his notebook, his ring and pinky fingers appear to blend into the page, but only part of his middle finger is visible, with the distortion highlighted in red.

Furthermore, after handing over the cash to Bass, his hands become abnormally large and his fingers appear noticeably distorted.

Moreover, a closer look at the alleged reports raises further questions. The station name is displayed in Hindi as “तहलका TV” and the caption is displayed in Bengali, an unusual discrepancy for a local broadcaster. Additionally, Alt News was unable to find any reliable reporting on this viral video or any claims related to it.

We also couldn’t find a channel named “तहलका TV” with a logo like the one seen in the viral clip. There is a channel called Tahalka Live TV, but it has a distinctly different logo. See the comparison below.

So, to summarize, the video shared by BJP leader Agnimitra Paul during the second phase polls in West Bengal was generated by AI.

related