A post going viral on social media (here, here, and here) claims that during a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) raid on former NDTV promoter Prannoy Roy, several secrets were uncovered, including his alleged real name as Parvez Raja, born in Karachi, and NDTV’s full form as “Nawajud Din Taufiq Venture,” said to be his father’s name. It also claims his wife Radhika’s real name is Rahila and a dartboard targeting Narendra Modi’s face was found in his bedroom. Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: CBI raid on former NDTV promoter Prannoy Roy revealed his real name, Karachi origins, and other secrets.
Fact: There are no credible reports confirming that a CBI raid on former NDTV promoter Prannoy Roy revealed his real name, Karachi origins, or other alleged secrets. A CBI press release dated 06 June 2017 made no mention of these claims. Fact-checkers have debunked similar claims from 2017 clarifying that there is no evidence to support these allegations about Prannoy Roy. Further, on 03 October 2024, the CBI filed a closure report in the alleged cheating case against Prannoy and Radhika Roy, citing a lack of evidence regarding the alleged ₹ 48 crore loss by ICICI Bank in a 2009 loan settlement. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the viral claim, we conducted an internet search using relevant keywords. However, we found no credible reports confirming that a CBI raid on NDTV owner Prannoy Roy revealed his real name, Karachi origins, or any other alleged secrets.
We found that on 06 June 2017, the CBI raided (here, here, and here) the offices and homes of NDTV founder Prannoy Roy, his wife Radhika, and RRPR Holding Private Ltd over allegations of defrauding ICICI Bank. The raids were conducted at four locations in Delhi and Dehradun.
We then checked the CBI’s official website and found a press release (pdf version here) dated 6 June 2017, which outlined the searches at Prannoy Roy’s residence. However, the release did not mention any of the claims made in the viral post, including Prannoy Roy’s real name, Karachi origins, or other alleged secrets.
We observed that after the CBI raids on Prannoy Roy, similar fake news stories went viral on social media in 2017 (here). The website ‘DailyO’ published an article (archived) addressing the false claims about Prannoy Roy, one of which was the claim mentioned in the post. Additionally, fact-check articles by various organizations debunking such fake news from 2017 can be found here, here, here, and here.
Regarding the case initiated in 2017, the CBI filed a closure report on 03 October 2024 in the alleged cheating case against former NDTV promoters and directors Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy (here, here, and here). The CBI stated that it could not find legally tenable evidence regarding the Rs. 48 crore loss incurred by ICICI Bank in the settlement of a loan in 2009.
To sum up, viral posts claiming to disclose details from the CBI raid on former NDTV promoter Prannoy Roy in 2017 are fake and have been circulating ever since the raid.
