Fact Check: Muslim man masquerade as Pandit, eats non-veg? No, here are the facts

As the festive season of Navratri is ongoing, a video circulating on social media shows a man dressed in the attire of a Pandit, wearing a tilak on his forehead and draped in a saffron gamcha. He is allegedly seen indulging in non-vegetarian food and, upon noticing that he is being filmed, attempts to escape.

Sharing the video, an X user wrote, “Mohammad Idrish arrested! During holy Navratri, he dressed as a Hindu Guru & made a viral video eating non-veg. Insult to faith won’t be tolerated.” (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found the claim false, as the video shows Mahesh Upreti, a Nepali artist featured in the scripted video.

A reverse image search of the video’s keyframe led us to footage shared by several X users on September 24, stating that the video is scripted and shows a Nepali comedian named Mahesh Upreti. (Click here and here to see the posts.)

One X user shared a screenshot of TikTok user Mahesh Upreti (@maheshupreti13)'s post, which also features the viral video.

Taking a hint, we accessed the TikTok account of Mahesh Upreti (Archive) through a VPN but did not find the viral video posted, possibly because it was taken down or deleted. However, we did find the video on Upreti’s timeline, reposted by several users. The versions posted by others carry the watermark of Upreti’s account username, “@maheshupreti13.”

The account has posted several scripted videos.

We also confirmed that the video shows Mahesh Upreti by comparing his face from the viral video with another recent video posted on his TikTok account.

Finally, we searched for Mohammad Idrish, who was reportedly arrested for masquerading as a Hindu Pandit while eating non-vegetarian food, but found no credible reports.

Therefore, we conclude that the viral video shows Mahesh Upreti, a Nepali artist featured in a scripted video. The claim is false.