Fact Check: Video of Andhra's Anjaneya Swamy Temple vandalism given communal spin

Hyderabad: On October 14, a man entered the Muthyalamma Temple in Secunderabad and vandalised the idol. The man was identified as 30-year-old Salman Salim Thakur with a history of involvement in similar incidents. The desecration of the temple led to large-scale protests in the city by Hindu organisations that demanded strict punishment for the accused.

Against this context, a video of a damaged single-room temple beside a hillock has gone viral. The video shows the entire structure titled to one side due to the damage made at the base. The idols inside can also be seen lying on their side.

Those sharing the video claim it shows a Hanuman temple vandalised in Molakalacheruvu in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, insinuating that the act was done by members of the Muslim community.

An X user shared the video and wrote, “Heartbroken. Some miscreants vandalised the Hanuman temple at Molakalacheruvu in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The conversion mafia is doing these things and destroying peace in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.” (Translated from Hindi) (Archive)

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Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. A Hindu priest vandalised the temple over a personal issue.

Upon conducting a reverse image search of the video’s keyframes, we found a Telangana Today report which carried a screenshot of the viral video. The report was titled, ‘Priest arrested for demolishing Anjaneya Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh’.

Quoting the police, the report stated that the Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy Temple in the Annamayya district of Andhra Pradesh was damaged by a priest following a tiff with its pujari over the sharing of the temple's income.

We also found that Annamayya District Police shared details about the case on their Facebook page. They identified the accused as a priest named Harinath Yadav. The police said that Harinath along with five others, vandalised the Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy Temple on October 14 over a dispute regarding sharing the temple’s income.

Chittoor District Superintendent of Police V Vidyasagar Naidu denied any communal angle to the incident and said that Harinath Yadav has been arrested.

According to a statement by the Chittoor police, “Harinath Yadav wanted to take Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy temple under his control to get its income but priest Vidyasagar did not agree. Angered, Harinath planned to blow up the temple thinking that this would force the priest to run away from the place. As per his plan, the accused spread a rumour that there is a treasure trove under Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy Temple. A week ago, he procured gelatin sticks from two persons but failed to blow up the temple.”

Similar details of the case were also reported by the Times of India, NTV and The Hans India.

Hence, we conclude that the claim is false; there is no communal angle to the damage done to Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy Temple in AP.