A video of a man urinating on a Shivling is viral on social media with the claim that the incident occurred in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr. Twitter handle History Of India (@RealHistoriPix) shared the video on July 7 with the caption – “Peaceful urinating on Shivling in a Hindu Temple in UP. Not wanted to share it, but if we don’t culprits will go free Luytens RWs avoid outraging on Temple vandalization as it be bad PR for BJP.” @RealHistoriPix is a parody handle of @RealHistoryPic.
Peaceful urinating on Shivling in a Hindu Temple in UP
Not wanted to share it, but if we don’t culprits will go free
Luytens RWs avoid outraging on Temple vandalization as it be bad PR for BJP !
pic.twitter.com/G15NbK4tjr— History Of India (@RealHistoriPix) July 7, 2019
@RealHistoriPix had posted the video first tweeted by one Khushi Singh. The claim has also found a place on Facebook.
Misleading video
If one notices carefully, the top left corner of the video carries a name – Arvind Tank.
Upon searching for a Twitter user by the same name, we found the profile of Arvind Tank. A Google search of his name directed us to a screenshot of his tweet posted by Fact Crescendo. The tweet has been withheld in India due to a legal response, however, an archived version can be accessed here.
The video shared by Tank is an old clip. We found that it was uploaded on YouTube in April 2018.
Bulandshahr police took note of the false tweet and arrested Tank for hurting religious sentiments. It tweeted on July 11 – “स्वाट टीम(क्राइम ब्रांच) व थाना जहांगीराबाद पुलिस द्वारा धार्मिक भावनाओं को आहत करने के उद्देश्य से ट्वीट कर फर्जी वीडियो वायरल करने वाला आरोपी अरविन्द टांक मोबाईल फोन सहित गिरफ्तार (Swat team (crime branch) and Jahangirabad police station have arrested Arvind Tank while in possession of his mobile phone for tweeting a video and making it viral with the intention of hurting religious sentiments.)”
स्वाट टीम(क्राइम ब्रांच) व थाना जहांगीराबाद पुलिस द्वारा धार्मिक भावनाओं को आहत करने के उद्देश्य से ट्वीट कर फर्जी वीडियो वायरल करने वाला आरोपी अरविन्द टांक मोबाईल फोन सहित गिरफ्तार #uppolice @Uppolice @adgzonemeerut @igrangemeerut pic.twitter.com/LMTsGK0mV4
— Bulandshahr Police (@bulandshahrpol) July 11, 2019
We found that a similar allegation was reported recently from Bulandshahr. A July 7 article by Jansatta tthat a Muslim man was arrested by the police for allegedly urinating inside a temple.
Bulandshahr police had tweeted on July 6 that a man named Irshad alias Irani was arrested based on a complaint. “In relation to the above-mentioned incident, Bhadvi vs Irshad alias Irani case number 287/19 has been registered in Jahangirabad police station under Section 295 and 153A. The accused has been arrested and jailed as part of immediate investigation.”
उपरोक्त घटना के सम्बन्ध में थाना जहांगीराबाद पर मु0अ0सं0-287/19 धारा 295,153ए भादवि बनाम इरशाद उर्फ ईरानी पंजीकृत है। तत्काल कार्यवाही करते हुए आरोपी को गिरफतार कर जेल भेजा जा चुका है।
— Bulandshahr Police (@bulandshahrpol) July 6, 2019
However, this is not the incident represented in the viral video. Telugu language news outlets MIC TV and ABN Live TV reported the video shows an incident that took place at a Shiva temple in Pisinikada village of the Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh on April 10, 2018. MIC TV reported that the accused were identified as Anand and Ramesh Anand from Santipura.
We also contacted Anakapalli rural police sub-inspector who informed us that the incident happened in 2018. “The culprits were juvenile. The boy seen in the video is Jagannadha Ramesh and Anand Dasari was recording it. As per their confession, they were from the Christian community. The case was registered under FIR 52/2018 under sections IPC Sections 295A, 153A, and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 66A of The Information Technology Act, 2000.”
An old video from Andhra Pradesh was passed off as a recent incident that allegedly occurred in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh.
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