Fact Check: Shaik Riyaz shot dead in Nizamabad; Muslims visit home, pay tribute? No, here are the facts
The video claims to show many Muslims gathered to pay tribute at habitual offender Shaik Riyaz’s house after he was shot dead at the Nizamabad Government Hospital.
By - K Sherly Sharon
Claim:The video shows people from the Muslim Community gathered in large numbers to pay tribute to Shaik Riyaz, who was killed in an alleged police encounter at Nizamabad Government Hospital.
Fact:The claim is false. The video shows a crowd at the Palamaner Government Hospital in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh after the body of a missing man was discovered on October 18.
Hyderabad: A video claiming to show Muslims gathered at Shaik Riyaz’s house to offer tributes is going viral on social media.
Shaik Riyaz was a rowdy-sheeter who was killed in an alleged encounter with the police in the Government General Hospital, Nizamabad on November 20. He is accused of killing Constable M Pramod on November 17.
The video shows an ambulance being brought to a location while a large group of people follow it on bikes and on foot. A stretcher is taken out of the ambulance carrying something that is wrapped up, while others watch on. It is unclear whether it is a body.
Sharing the video on Facebook, a user wrote, “Look at the value they are giving to the body of Riyaz, who was killed in an encounter in Nizamabad yesterday. Whether the deceased is a terrorist or a traitor, it does not matter to them. They are all one. Friends, please understand.” (Translated from Telugu) (Archive)
A smaller version of the viral clip was shared on Instagram with the text, “Thousands of Muslims came to pay their respects at Riyaz’s house. Perhaps this many Muslims would not have even come to APJ Abdul Kalam.” (Translated from Telugu) (Archive)
Posts making similar claims can be seen here, here and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2 and Archive 3)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video shows a crowd gathering at the Palamaner Government Hospital in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh after the body of a missing man was discovered on October 18.
Shaik Riyaz’s last rites were performed by his family in the early hours of November 21 at the Bodhan Crematorium of Nizamabad. Police handed over his body after postmortem at 2 in the morning.
We could not find any news reports stating that the viral video shows the people gathered to offer tributes at Riyaz’s house.
The ambulance in the video explains the incident
Through an analysis of the video’s keyframes, we found that the ambulance is a free service run by ‘Jeelu Bhai’. We contacted the ambulance service providers who told us that the viral video is not connected to Shaik Riyaz’s funeral.
Speaking to NewsMeter, AS Jeelani alias Jeelu Bhai said, “That video shows an incident that took place in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. It is not connected to Shaik Riyaz’s last rites in Nizamabad.”
He informed us that the video shows an incident where 22-year-old Younis’ body was brought to the Government Hospital in Palamaner.
Case of tragic death at waterfalls
Younis went missing near the Kalyanarevula waterfalls in Palamaner after scaling down a slope to record a video. He lost control and fell into the gushing waters, according to a report published by The Hindu.
After days of search efforts by police and forest officials, his body was discovered on October 18. Jeelu Bhai Ambulance services assisted in the transportation of the body.
Ambulance owner receiving threats
Jeelani said that the ambulance is a free service run by him in and around the Chittoor district. Ever since the video began circulating with fake claims, he has received multiple threatening calls from unknown people who believed that he helped in the last rites of Shaik Riyaz.
He shared a YouTube video uploaded by ‘Chandra Creations - Palamaner’ on October 18. The video shows the discovery of Younis’s body, the ambulance arriving at the hospital and video clips of people speaking about the incident to the media. A comparison of screenshots from the YouTube video and the viral video can be found below.
We found that the colour scheme of the building from the viral video matches an image of the Palamaner Government Hospital uploaded on Google Maps in February 2024.
Using keyword searches, we found a YouTube video uploaded by Palamaner News with the title, ‘Friends and relatives arrive in large numbers at the area hospital to see Younis’. All the video clips in the viral video can be traced to the footage uploaded by Palamaner News.
Visuals of group following the ambulance
The large group, from the timestamp 0:01 to 0:50 of the viral video, can be seen from the 0:30-minute mark to the 1:21-minute mark in the YouTube video.
Visuals of crowd outside the hospital
The crowd gathered at the hospital, from the timestamp 0:51 to 2:58 in the viral video, can be seen from the 3:01-minute mark to the 5:08-minute mark in the YouTube video.
Therefore, it is clear that the viral video does not show people of the Muslim community gathered in large numbers at Shaik Riyaz’s house to offer tributes. It shows a crowd gathering at the Palamaner Government Hospital after Younis’s body was discovered on October 18.
NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.
