According to a CCTV footage and a screenshot from an Aajtak news story, there was a recent incident where Hindus allegedly threw cow meat, or beef, into a temple in Ayodhya in an attempt to incite communal tensions in the area.

@INDStoryS tweeted “in ayodhya To spoil the communal atmosphere, Hindu fundamentalists had thrown cow meat in the temple wearing caps. Name of these radicals ** Mahesh Mishra, ** Pratyush Kumar, ** Nitin Kumar ** Deepak Gaur ** Brajesh Pandey Shatrughan and ** Vimal Pandey…!! Ayodhya #UttarPradesh Action对魔忍” on March 29, 2024. The tweet has received an about 26.9k views on X.

अयोध्या में

सांप्रदायिक माहोल बिगाड़ने केलिए टोपी पहन के मंदीर मे गाय का गोश्त फ़ेंक ने गये थे ,हिंदू कट्टरपंथी.

इन कट्टरपंथीयो का नाम
**महेश मिश्रा, **प्रतियूष कुमार, **नितिन कुमार **दीपक गौड़ **ब्रजेश पंडे शत्रुघ्न और **विमल पंडे…!!#Ayodhya #UttarPradesh #Action对魔忍 pic.twitter.com/BEJ3LxnhmO

— IND Story's (@INDStoryS) March 29, 2024

Several other accounts, including @realwajidkhan, @Manishkumarttp, @Bhura_khan_, @StreetPress__, @Munna___King made the same claim that Hindus named Mahesh Mishra, Pratyush Kumar, Nitin Kumar, Deepak Gaur, Brajesh Pandey, Shatrughan and Vimal Pandey threw beef at a temple in Ayodhya. The archive can be read from above.

What is the Actual Truth About this Incident? : Fact

The video is actually from Bharuch, Gujarat, where a man threatening to kill the priest attempted to set ablaze Shankaracharya Math. He was wearing a skull cap. Since the Aajtak news report’s screenshot was taken about two years ago, no further reports of this kind of incident have surfaced. Gujarati language is spoken by the man who is capturing the footage. We visited LOKMAT TIMES, which published an article on this incident on March 22, 2024 with the headline “Gujarat: Man Tries To Set Ablaze Shankaracharya Math in Bharuch; Watch Video”. It added “A man allegedly tried to set ablaze a Shankaracharya ‘math’ in Bharuch town of Gujarat early on Friday, March 22, and left behind a message threatening to harm its priest. The incident captured on a CCTV camera, police rushed to the spot and launched a probe to nab the culprit.” A person wearing black clothing and a white cap is seen in the video throwing something in the direction of the math door. Then he approaches the door and lights it on fire. For more clarification, we also went to Indian Express, which wrote about this incident on March 22, 2024 with the heading “Man tries to set ablaze Shankaracharya Math in Gujarat; accused at large”. The crime may have been related to an existing conflict between the Math and a minority community that had constructed a dargah on adjacent land that the Swami believes belonged to the Math. When the seer was conducting the rituals early on Friday, an unidentified man wearing a black hoodie jacket, a white cap and a facemask attempted to set fire to part of the Shankaracharya Math, which is operated by the Dwarka Shardapeeth in Bharuch, Gujarat, according to the police.According to the seer, Muktanand Swami, the man entered the Math premises around 5.30 am, poured some kind of inflammable liquid all over the premises and set fire to a part of the Math. “Before fleeing he also threw some bits of paper that had some threat messages in the air. On checking the CCTV footage, we saw that he had entered from the back door,” Muktanand Swami said. Aajtak posted the screenshot in an article on April 29, 2022 with the headline “Netted cap, meat in hand…’, know who is Mahesh Mishra who is plotting tension in Ayodhya, NSA will be imposed”, which is quite old.

The official account of @BharuchPolice tweeted “An attempt was made to set fire to a monastery run by Dwarka Shardapith in Bharuch A Division Police Station area by some deranged ascetic. No casualties were reported in this incident (1). @GujaratPolice @dgpgujarat @CMOGuj @sanghaviharsh” on March 22, 2024.

ભરૂચ એ ડિવિઝન પોલીસ સ્ટેશન વિસ્તારમાં આવેલ દ્વારકા શારદાપીઠ સંચાલિત મઠ પર વિકૃત માનસિકતા ધરાવતા કોઈ અજાણ્યા ઈસમ દ્વારા પ્રવાહી પદાર્થ છાંટી આગ લગાડવાનો પ્રયત્ન કરવામાં આવેલ છે. આ બનાવમાં કોઇ જાનહાનિ થયેલ નથી ( 1 )@GujaratPolice @dgpgujarat @CMOGuj @sanghaviharsh

— SP Bharuch (@BharuchPolice) March 22, 2024

Further, @BharuchPolice tweeted “(2) Senior police officers, local crime branch, SOG and local police immediately reached the spot and formed different teams to find and arrest the perpetrators of the crime. @GujaratPolice @dgpgujarat @CMOGuj @sanghaviharsh” on March 22, 2024.

( 2 ) આ બનાવ સ્થળે સિનિયર પોલીસ અધિકારીશ્રીઓ, લોકલ ક્રાઈમ બ્રાંચ, એસ.ઓ.જી અને સ્થાનિક પોલીસ તાત્કાલિક પહોંચી જઈ ગુનાહિત કૃત્ય આચરનાર ઈસમને શોધી કાઢી પકડી પાડવા માટે અલગ અલગ ટીમો બનાવવામાં આવેલ છે.@GujaratPolice @dgpgujarat @CMOGuj @sanghaviharsh

— SP Bharuch (@BharuchPolice) March 22, 2024

@ayodhya_police tweeted “07 accused who tried to spread riots in the city by putting objectionable posters and objects in the mosques of Ayodhya on the night of 26/27.04.22 were arrested. The vehicle and mobile used in the incident were recovered. #UPPolice” on April 28, 2022.

दिनांक 26/27.04.22 की रात्रि शहर अयोध्या के मस्जिदों में आपत्तिजनक पोस्टर, व वस्तु डालकर शहर मे दंगा फैलाने की कोशिश करने वाले 07 अभियुक्त गिरफ्तार, घटना मे प्रयुक्त वाहन एवं मोबाइल बरामद।#UPPolice pic.twitter.com/uosSmncz2a

— AYODHYA POLICE (@ayodhya_police) April 28, 2022

D-Intent’s Fact-Checking Results:

1792
ANALYSIS: Misleading

FACT: A CCTV video and an Aajtak news report's screenshot are being circulated claiming that in a recent incident, Hindu individuals threw cow meat (beef) at a temple in Ayodhya to create communal tension in the area. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/h6ODDLxAoq

— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) March 29, 2024

Intent:

Extremist accounts are circulating CCTV video from Gujarat claiming to be from UP and linking it with years-old incidents to set their hatred propaganda based on religion. A CCTV video and an Aajtak news report’s screenshot are being circulated claiming that in a recent incident, Hindu individuals threw cow meat (beef) at a temple in Ayodhya to create communal tension in the area. That being said, the footage is from Bharuch, Gujarat, where a man threatening to kill the priest attempted to set fire to Shankaracharya Math. Although no similar occurrence has been recorded recently, the screenshot from the Aajtak news item is almost two years old. Gujarati is spoken by the individual who is capturing the video.

Conclusion:

Claim : A CCTV video and a clip from an Aajtak news story are circulating, stating that in a recent event, Hindus threw cow meat (beef) at a temple in Ayodhya, causing religious strife.

Fact : The fact is that the video is from Bharuch, Gujarat, where a man wearing a skull cap tried to set ablaze Shankaracharya Math and threatened to kill the priest. The screenshot of the Aajtak news report is about 2 years old, and no such incident has been reported recently. The man recording the video can be heard speaking Gujarati language.

Also Read : Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh — Two Lower Caste Individuals Brutally Beaten Up For Entering a Temple? Fact-Check