A video showing a desecrated idol of Lord Ganesha in a temple in Andhra Pradesh is being shared on multiple social media platforms with the claim that some miscreants had cut off the deity's hands in an attempt to disrupt religious harmony in the southern state.
As it turns out, there is no truth to the claim at all as the Andhra Pradesh police have clarified that the particular idol at a Ramalayam Temple in Yeti Gairampeta village in Golugonda Mandal in Visakhapatnam had suffered a partial damage a couple of years ago.
The claim
Dozens of Twitters users have been sharing the particular video along with rather provoking captions. "#BREAKING: Another idol desecrated in #AndhraPradesh! This time, miscreants cut off hands of Lord Ganesh inside a temple in Yeti Gairampeta village, Golugonda mandal, #Visakhapatnam dt. CM @ysjagan had recently compared these #templeattacks to political guerrilla warfare," wrote one Twitter user while posting the video which has now garnered more than 41,000 views.
#BREAKING: Another idol desecrated in #AndhraPradesh! This time, miscreants cut off hands of Lord Ganesh inside a temple in Eti Gairampeta village, Golugonda mandal, #Visakhapatnam dt. CM @ysjagan had recently compared these #templeattacks to political guerrilla warfare. pic.twitter.com/5n2GNUrwIP
— krishnamurthy (@krishna0302) January 6, 2021
On similar lines, another person said, "Another day, Another temple attacked in #AndhraPradesh! Idol of Lord Ganesh vandalised in Gairampeta village, Golugonda. Will #YSJagan ever wake up from his mindful slumber? Even if he doesn't, till when will #Hindus of Andhra conveniently ignore these attacks?"
These posts led a number of people to believe that such an incident had actually transpired and they started demanding punishment for those behind the conspiracy.
Fact-check
Golugonda Sub Inspector Dhanunjay Naidu has dubbed the claims circulating online regarding the particular idol as completely baseless. While speaking to The News Minute, Naidu stated that the hands of the idol fell off two years ago and were kept at a different place.
Asserting that there is no conspiracy, he said, "It is a small village temple. The idol of Ganesha with four hands is nearly two decades old. Its hands broke two years ago and were kept at a different place. It was not repaired. The temple priest who is relatively new, did not know this. Only today, he spotted the statue with its hands missing and shared the information with others. Due to the ongoing communal campaign, the village youth who came to know about it shared it with others on WhatsApp, and the news spread like wildfire."
Simultaneously, the police apprehended at least four persons for spreading rumours and registered a case under Section 153A of the IPC.
