A video is going viral on social media (here, here, and here), allegedly showing an ice cream vendor claiming to be the same person featured on a hoarding of the Delhi-NCR-based IIMT Group of Colleges. In the video, users mocked the college, claiming that the advertisement was fake and that the ice cream vendor was falsely presented as alumnus Puneet Gautam, who secured a campus placement with an annual package of Rs 1.8 crore. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.
Claim: The video shows an ice cream vendor being portrayed on a billboard as an IIMT alumnus who received a ₹1.8 crore package.
Fact: The video is not real, and the ice cream vendor is not the person on the billboard. The vendor, identified as Shailendra from Etawah, U.P., clarified that the video was recorded as a prank, and he apologised for it. IIMT College confirmed that the viral video is fake, stating that both individuals are different and the billboard features alumnus Puneet Gautam, a 2011 B.Tech graduate, who secured a package in London with Salesforce. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the claim, we searched with relevant keywords and found a news report by UP Tak dated 23 August 2025. According to the report, the ice cream vendor in the viral video identified himself as Shailendra from Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. He clarified that the person on the billboard is someone else and not him. Shailendra said the video was recorded by an (Institute of Integrated Management and Technology) IIMT student, a regular customer of his, who jokingly remarked that he looked like the graduate with the ₹1.8 crore package. The video was made as a prank to gain followers, but it went unexpectedly viral. Shailendra added that he has apologised to both the college and the police, assuring he will not repeat such acts. The report also featured IIMT’s Director General, Ankur Johari, who called the video a prank aimed at defaming the college. He stated that the viral video is fake, presented documents, and clarified that the person on the billboard is Puneet Gautam, a 2011 batch student, who secured a good package in London with Salesforce.
We also found a Facebook post dated 21 August 2025, in which IIMT Group of Colleges issued a statement clarifying that the viral claims were fake. The institute said the video was a deliberate attempt to damage its reputation by falsely comparing its alumni with an ice cream vendor and labelling it as fraud. It termed the allegations baseless, condemned the act, and asserted that the video was circulated to malign the college’s image.
Speaking to PTI News, the DG (Academics) of IIMT Group of Colleges shared a statement from alumnus Puneet Gautam, who expressed disappointment over the viral Instagram video. He clarified that he is not the person in the video and requested that necessary steps be taken for its removal.
A search for Puneet Gautam online led us to his LinkedIn profile, where the display picture matched the one on the viral video’s billboard. His bio shows that he is currently working in Customer Relationship Management at Philip Morris International and is a former employee of Salesforce. On reviewing his profile, we also found a post in which he stated that fake posts were circulating using his LinkedIn pictures and details for false claims, and confirmed that he had already reported the issue.
To sum up, the viral video claiming IIMT portrayed an ice cream vendor as an alumnus with a ₹1.8 crore package is fake.
