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Does This Video Show ‘Mohammad Idrish’ Dressed as a Hindu Guru Eating Meat? No!

The video shows a Nepali artist named Mahesh Upreti who makes skits and dance videos.

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A video of a man wearing a sacred thread and saffron clothes while eating meat is being shared on social media amid the auspicious Hindu festival of Navratri.

The claim: The video is being shared to claim that it shows one Mohammad Idrish, who was arrested after he pretended to be a Hindu guru and shared a video of him eating meat during Navratri to "insult' Hindu faith.

(Archived versions of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No, the video is a staged one created by Nepali "artist" Mahesh Upreti, making the claim false.

  • Additionally, there are no credible reports about a person named Mohammad Idrish doing such a thing.

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How do we know?: We carried out a reverse image seach using Google Lens, which showed us several results from TikTok.

  • Since the platform is banned in India, we used VPN to access these results.

  • One of the search results showed us the same video, but this one carried the username '@maheshupreti3'.

  • Taking a cue from this, we looked for the account on TikTok and found it.

  • The account's bio mentioned that Upreti is an "Artist/Singer."

  • We went through Upreti's profile, but did not find this video there, which could mean that it was taken down.

  • However, we saw that he regularly posts scripted and stage videos, along with dance videos on his account.

  • Comparing the viral video to one dancing video, we were able to clearly establish that the person in the video was Mahesh Upreti.

  • Upreti shares dance videos on his YouTube channel as well.

  • We looked for his profile on Facebook, which mentioned that he is from Dharan, Nepal.

Lastly, a keyword search using 'Mohammad Idrish' did not yield any credible reports about anyone by that name being arrested recently.

Conclusion: A staged video by a Nepali artist is being shared to falsely claim it shows a man named Mohammad Idrish pretending to be a Hindu guru.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , 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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