BJP posts fake AI audio clips of Sule and Patole, alleges poll fraud

On the eve of voting in Maharashtra, the BJP posted at least three fake AI generated audio clips on X, previously Twitter, claiming them to be recordings of conversations between NCP leader Supriya Sule, IPS officer Amitabh Gupta, and Congress leader Nana Patole, with each other, and an employee of an audit firm, Gaurav Mehta.

A total of four audio clips were posted by the BJP on their official X handle starting at 10.58 pm on November 19, hours before the state began polling today after aggressive campaigning by parties.

Maharashtra which is voting on November 20 saw aggressive campaigning by parties with similar names and little else in common. Currently the state is led by the Mahayuti alliance comprised of the chief minister Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena, BJP and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP. In opposition is the Maha Vikas Aghadi an alliance between Uddhav Thackery led Shiv Sena (Shiv Sena UBT), Congress and the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP.

The BJP has alleged the voice notes are of opposition MVA leaders Supriya Sule (NCP Sharad Pawar) and Nano Patole (Congress). The other two individuals, whose voices are allegedly part of the audio clips as alleged by the BJP are Amitabh Gupta, currently Inspector General, Indo Tibetan Border Police and a Gaurav Mehta, employee of an audit firm, Sarathi Associates.

Former police officer from Pune Ravindranath Patil on Tuesday alleged that Patole and Sule “misappropriated bitcoins from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case and used the same to fund the ongoing state elections”.

Patil also named three others, IPS Amitabh Gupta, the then Pune police commissioner, Mehta from audit firm Sarathi, and another IPS Bhagyashree Navtake, currently Chandrapur SP, Maharashtra State Reserve Police. ANI reported Patil as claiming that he had been sent voice notes of the conversations between the named people.

The BJP soon latched on to these allegations and posted the four alleged voice notes, claiming they were “proof of the misappropriation of bitcoins” by Sule and Patole.

In the fake recordings, voices purporting to be those of Sule and Patole can be heard asking for cash in exchange for bitcoins stored in four crypto wallets and also promising no investigation into the matter.

Sambit Patra, national spokesperson of the BJP, also held a press conference on Wednesday morning further amplifying the AI-generated voice notes.

An archive of these posts can be seen here, here, here and here.

Fact check

BOOM found that the voice notes posted by BJP are fake and generated using generative AI technology. We tested the audio clips using TrueMedia.org’s deepfake detection tool available to journalists and researchers.

Three of the four audio clips showed substantial evidence of being AI generated. Meanwhile, the tests for one of the audio clips showed it was unlikely to be AI, it is only five seconds long. This essentially means the clip is too short to be accurately tested currently.

The fact-checker also heard the voice notes and compared the voices of Sule, Patole and Gupta with publicly available interviews on YouTube. None of the voices in the audio posted by the BJP match the original voices of the three.

Voice note 1: Audit firm employee speaking to IPS Amitabh Gupta

In this voice note, a man identified only as Gaurav Mehta, employee of an audit firm Sarathi Associates, is heard speaking to IPS Amitabh Gupta who was the then Pune police commissioner.

We tested the audio clip using TrueMedia’s AI deepfake detection tool which showed there was substantial evidence of manipulation. View results here

Voice note 2: Sule speaking to audit firm employee Gaurav Mehta

In this voice note, Sule is heard asking Mehta for cash in exchange for bitcoins without worrying about an investigation.

We compared Sule’s voice in the voice note to her interview on Samdish Bhatia's video podcast, Unfiltered By Samdish in 2023. Both voices sound different from each other. Sule's original voice from an interview can be heard here.

The results TrueMedia’s AI deepfake detection tool confirmed that there was substantial evidence of manipulation. Full results here.

Voice note 3: Congress leader Nana Patole speaking to IPS Gupta

In this voice note, Patole is allegedly threatening IPS Amitabh Gupta to convert the bitcoin for cash.

TrueMedia.org's tool determined there was little evidence of manipulation. View results here. However, the recording is only 5 seconds long and is too short to be tested on current detection tools to give an accurate result.

We also compared Patole’s voice in the audio recording to his interview on YouTube channel, JistNews, published on November 19. The voice in the audio note did not match Patole’s original voice. His original voice can be heard here.

Voice note 4: Conversation Between IPS Gupta and Gaurav Mehta

This is a voice note allegedly of IPS Gupta, the then Pune police commissioner speaking to Mehta, ensuring the compliance of cash for bitcoins as demanded by Sule and Patole.

We found several interviews by IPS Gupta on YouTube, none of them matching his voice as heard in the audio recording posted by BJP. His original voice from a March 15 interview can be heard here.

TrueMedia’s tool confirmed that there was substantial evidence of manipulation by AI. View results here.

Additionally, the Misinformation Combat Alliance’s Deepfake Analysis Unit (DAU), of which BOOM is a part of, analysed the viral audio clips using deepfake detection tools Hive, Hiya, True Media, Deepfake-o-meter, and found three of the audio clips were AI generated while one was found to show little evidence of manipulation.

This report is republished with permission from fact-checking website BOOM.