(Editor's Note: The story was first published on 3 January 2022 and is being republished from The Quint's archives in light of the same claims resurfacing again.)
A set of four old and unrelated photographs are once again being widely shared on social media platforms with a false communal narrative, claiming that a restaurant in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu was serving biryani laced with 'impotency pills' to its Hindu customers, in order to control the growth of the Hindu population in the country.
However, the narrative created with these images is completely false. Team WebQoof has previously fact-checked all these photographs, some of which were shared with a different claim in the past.
It is important to note that the same claim was viral in 2020, using some of the photos being shared now. The false, communal narrative being peddled with this photograph is a prevalent, recurring one which gets revived on social media time and again.
CLAIM
The set of four photographs is being shared with a story about how in Coimbatore, a restaurant called 'Masha Allah' uses two utensils to cook biryani and has designated one for Hindus and one for Muslims, so they could feed 'impotency pills' to Hindu youngsters and work towards controlling India's Hindu population.
An archived versionof this post can be accessed here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
IMAGE 1
The photo was shared in the claim.
(Source: Facebook)
Using reverse image search, we had found a report by Navbharat Times published on 11 July 2019. It mentioned that in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh the police had raided a house and a madrasa and seized illegal weapons. The police also arrested six people in relation to the case.
Bijnor Police's verified account had also shared a photograph similar to the one used in the claim, while providing details of the weapons that were seized.
IMAGE 2
The claim showed a photo of tablet packages.
(Source: Facebook)
We found the second photograph, which shows a blister pack of pills, in an article published in May 2019 by Daily Mirror Online. This article noted that two people, a father and son duo from Wolfendhal Street, Colombo in Sri Lanka, were arrested for the suppy and possession of illegal drugs worth Rs 40 million that were banned in Sri Lanka.
The drugs were found after their home was raided based off a tip-off by two previously nabbed people who were arrested for possessing heroin.
IMAGE 3
The claim shows a man servingbiryani.
(Source: Facebook)
The third photograph showing a man with biryani was found in a video uploaded by a channel called ‘Videosmylive - How to Best South Indian Style’ which was posted on 1 July, 2016.
The picture was used as the thumbnail for the video.
We also found that the Coimbatore City Police's Twitter account had responded to one such claim containing two of these photos (which has now been taken down) and said that the account was spreading 'fake news' and should not be believed.
The accout noted that the CCP was working to trace the handle.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
IMAGE 4
The photo was shared as a part of the claim.
(Source: Facebook)
The fourth photograph being shared in the claim was related to the madrasa and house raid conducted by Bijnor Police. Upon carefully observing the photographs, we saw that the two people accompanied by the police in the claim closely resembled two of the accused in the photo shared by Bijnor police's Twitter account.
Photo shared by Bijnor police (top) and photo used in the claim (bottom).
(Source:Twitter/Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
A person wearing a yellow shirt is also partially visible behind the old man donning a scarf, like the person seen in the top photograph.
Evidently, a set of old and unrelated photographs are being shared on social media with a false, recurring communal narrative that Muslim-run restaurants are lacing their food with 'impotency pills' to control the growth of the country's Hindu population.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
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