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No, Lucknow Police Did Not Arrest Three Hindus For Posing As Muslims To Offer Namaz At Lulu Mall
Uttar Pradesh, 20 July 2022 11:35 AM GMT
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Aman Dubey State spokesperson of Madhya Pradesh Youth congress shared this claim and wrote, "According to Lucknow Police- Saroj Nath Yogi, Krishna Kumar Pathak, Gaurav Goswami were three out of 4 who were offering Namaaz. The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim.
Following the arrests of four persons by Lucknow Police for offering religious prayers in LuLu Mall in the city, a claim is going viral across social media that three Hindu men had disguised themselves as Muslims and pretended to offer namaz.
On July 12, a video of around eight people offering namaz at the first floor of the mall went viral. Subsequently, a press note shared by the Twitter handle of Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Lucknow on July 15, has gone viral across social media. The press note contains a list of 4 names, 3 Hindus and one Muslim.
Claim:
The caption of the tweet shared by the DCP South Lucknow reads as follows, "In relation to the attempt of religious activities without permission in Lulu Mall premises - Police Station Sushant Golf City."
The translated press note reads, "Commissionerate Police Station, Sushant Golf City Lucknow: Today, 15.07.2022, four people from different religions and communities undertook religious activities without prior approval in LuLu Mall.
They aimed to upset the communal harmony. Section 144 is applicable in the Lucknow Commissionerate. The four persons have been apprehended and sent to judicial custody. Their names are as follows- Saroj Nath Yogi. 2- Krishna Kumar Pathak 3- Gaurav Goswami 4- Arshad Ali".
A screenshot of this press note has been shared by netizens across social media. The following claim was shared along with the screenshot of the press note. "By playing politics of Hindu-Muslim in the country, who is reaping benefits from this atmosphere. You could have guessed from the names of the persons who offered Namaz in Lulu Mall of Lucknow. Saroj Nath Yogi, Krishna Kumar Pathak, and Gaurav Goswami. These people were offering prayers posing as Muslims."
Aman Dubey State spokesperson of Madhya Pradesh Youth congress shared this claim and wrote, "लखनऊ पुलिस के मुताबिक़ -• सरोज नाथ योगी • कृष्ण कुमार पाठक • गौरव गोस्वामी. यह 4 में से यह तीन "नमाज़ अदा" कर रहे थे ?
[English Translation: According to Lucknow Police - Saroj Nath Yogi, Krishna Kumar Pathak, Gaurav Goswami. These three out of 4 were "praying Namaaz"?]
Wasiuddin Siddiqui, writer and social activist shared this post and wrote, "लुलु मॉल में नमाज पढ़कर मॉल को बदनाम करने और समाज में नफरत फैलाने वाले थेथर सरोज नाथ योगी कृष्ण कुमार पाठक गौरव गोस्वामी और अरशद अली को पहचान लीजिये इनका कोई धर्म नही इनका धर्म नफरत है इनकी मंशा जान लीजिये नमाज और पूजा मुल्क में करोड़ों लोग करते है मगर वो दिखावा नही करते है."
[Engslish Transaltion: Recognize Thathar Saroj Nath Yogi Krishna Kumar Pathak, Gaurav Goswami and Arshad Ali, who defamed the mall by offering Namaz in Lulu Mall and spread hatred in the society, they have no religion, their religion is hatred, know their intention, crores of people do Namaz and worship in the country. But he doesn't pretend.]
Social activist Himmat Singh Gurjar shared a post and wrote, "लखनऊ के लूलू मॉल के CCTV कमरें में नमाज़ पढ़ने वालों के चेहरे क़ैद,पुलिस ने नाम उजागर किये..सरोज नाथ योगी, कृष्ण कुमार पाठक, गौरव गोस्वामी धर्म की अफ़ीम चटा कर दंगे की बर्बादी का मंजर देख रहे कुछ लोग..हिन्दू इतना जाग गया है हनुमान चालीसा ही नहीं नमाज़ भी पढ़ने लगा..कोई तो रोक लो."
[English Translation: The faces of those offering prayers were caught in the CCTV rooms of Lulu Mall in Lucknow, the police revealed the names...Saroj Nath Yogi, Krishna Kumar Pathak, Gaurav Goswami. Some people watching the scene of the ruin of the riot by licking the opium of religion. Hindu has woken up so much, not only Hanuman Chalisa but also started praying Namaz. Somebody stop it.]
It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be misleading. The men were arrested for reciting Hanuman Chalisa.
We conducted a keyword search for the incident that took place on July 12th at LuLu Mall. We came across this The Hindu report published on July 19, which quoted the Lucknow Police denying media reports that the eight persons, who were caught on camera offering namaz in Lulu Mall on July 12 were non-Muslims.
The report quotes Rajesh Shrivastava, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Lucknow, saying that t he investigation was still on and the police were scanning the CCTV in the mall for footage of the incident. He is noted as saying that the investigation is underway. As per the Hindu report, Shrivastava is quoted as saying that Lucknow Police would soon announce the details of the persons who offered namaz in LuLu Mall.
We came across reports by several media outlets such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and New Indian Express published on July 15, 2022. The media outlets noted that a FIR has been registered against unidentified persons who offered namaz at LuLu Mall. The media outlets did not mention any names or religious identities of the persons arrested.
In our Fact Check, we also came across this statement by the Lucknow Police Commissionerate. The tweet's caption reads, "In connection with the Lu-Lu Mall incident, misleading news is being circulated on social media with the names of some youths, which is entirely untrue.
Lucknow Commissionerate Police completely denies this misleading news." The translated press note reads as follows,
"On 12.07.2022, a video went viral on social media showing people offering namaz in the LuLu mall premises. In connection with this, a case was registered on 14.07.2022 against unknown persons who offered namaz. The management of LuLu mall registered a case at the Sushant Golf City police station. The complaint was registered under section 153A (1) / 295A / 341 / 505. "None of the accused related to the registered case has been identified so far. "
The statement continues, "After this incident, on 15.07.2022, Saroj Nath Yogi, Krishna Kumar Pathak, Gaurav Goswami tried to read Hanuman Chalisa whereas Arshad Ali tried to read the namaz. They were charged under sections 151,107,116 CrPC."
The statement reads, "Following this incident, on 16.07.2022, action was taken against 18 people under sections of 151,107,116 CrPC due to the breach of peace they caused."
"In another incident on 16.07.2022, two youths were arrested near the western perimeter of the Mall. They were held shouting slogans with the aim of disturbing communal harmony, and charged under sections of 151,107,116 CrPC"
"Through viral messages on social media, misleading information is being spread by some unknown people related to the offering of Namaz in LuLu Mall.This information is completely untrue. Commissionerate Lucknow Police denies this untrue and misleading news. We request all not to spread such false and misleading news," the statement concludes.
In a recent development, Lucknow police arrested four people for offering namaaz at Lulu Mall without authorisation on July 12. According to the report of the Hindustan Times, the arrested people were identified as Mohd Rehan of Lucknow, Atif Khan of Mohammadi in Lakhimpur Kheri district and two brothers, Mohd Lokman Ali and Mohd Noman Ali, of Laharpur, Sitapur. DK Thakur, Lucknow Commissioner of Police said that four men visited the mall on July 12 with a minor and three women and offered namaz on the mall premises.
Conclusion:
We found that two separate incidents took place at LuLu Mall which prompted the controversy around the offering of namaz. On July 12, a video went viral across social media which showed persons offering namaz in the LuLu mall premises.
On July 14, a case was registered in this case against unknown persons who offered namaz. Following this incident, another incident took place on July 15, where three Hindu persons and one person from the Muslims community were attempting to read respective religious texts.
These persons were charged under sections 151, 107, 116 of the CrPC. The Lucknow Police has acknowledged that the persons who offered namaz at LuLu Mall on July 12 have not been identified. Thus, it is apparent that two separate incidents at LuLu Mall in Lucknow have been passed off as one communally charged incident.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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