No, Hindu Men Were Not Arrested For Offering Namaz At Lucknow’s LuLu Mall

Authors

Vasudha Beri

Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.

(The article was originally published in Newschecker Hindi by Shubham Singh)

Days after a video showing a group of men offering Namaz at the recently inaugurated LuLu Mall in Lucknow went viral, several social media users are claiming that three Hindu men have been arrested in connection with this incident.

Sharing a screenshot of a tweet purportedly by DCP South Lucknow, dated July 15, 2022, some social media users alleged that three Hindu men posed as Muslims and offered Namaz at the mall’s premises. In the alleged tweet in Hindi, DCP South Lucknow informed about the arrest of four people- Saroj Nath Yogi, Krishna Kumar Pathak, Gaurav Goswami and Arshad Ali – over an attempt to indulge in religious activities at LuLu mall premises without permission.

You can find links to such posts here, here, here and here.

Inaugurated on July 10 by UP CM Yogi Adityanath, the LuLu Mall in Lucknow soon landed into controversy after a video of a group of men offering Namaz in its premises went viral.
Following which, members of some Hindu organisations alleged violation of communal harmony and sought permission to recite the Hanuman Chalisa at the mall as a counter. However, the same was denied. Amid the growing controversy, Yogi Adityanath said, “The Lucknow administration must take the matter very seriously. Miscreants attempting to create such nuisance should be dealt with strictly.”

Also Read: Government Giving Free Laptops To All Students? Viral Claim Is False

Fact Check/Verification

Newschecker’s investigation began by ascertaining whether the four people named in the viral posts were arrested at LuLu mall or not. We conducted a keyword search for “Saroj Nath Yogi arrested LuLu mall” which led us to a report by the Hindustan Times, dated July 19, 2022.

The report stated, “On July 15, three people identified as Saroj Nath Yogi, Krishna Kumar Pathak and Gaurav Goswami were arrested for trying to recite Hanuman Chalisa inside the mall. The same day, a fourth man, Arshad Ali, was arrested for trying to offer Namaz inside the mall.”

The incident was reported widely by several Hindi and English news outlets. You can read the reports  here, here and here.

Further, we found a Facebook post by Saroj Nath Yogi, one of the persons named in the viral claim, dated July 15, 2022. The post in Hindi roughly translates to, “went to LuLu Mall to recite Hanuman Chalisa. I and Gaurav Goswami Pathak were arrested”.

Quashing the viral claim,  a tweet by Police Commissionerate Lucknow, dated July 18, 2022, clarified that Saroj Nath Yogi, Krishna Kumar Pathak, Gaurav Goswami were arrested on July 15 over an attempt to recite Hanuman Chalisa and Arshad Ali for Namaz. It further added that action was taken against the four under sections 151, 107, and 116  of CrPC.

We found that the July 15 tweet by DCP South Lucknow was indeed posted in connection with these arrests. It is likely that the ambiguity over the said “religious activities”(dharmik kriyakalap) in the aforementioned tweet caused the confusion and misled social media users into deducing that three Hindus were arrested in connection with offering Namaz at LuLu Mall.

Conclusion 

Here, it can be concluded that three Hindus, namely Saroj Nath Yogi, Krishna Kumar Pathak, and Gaurav Goswami, were arrested for posing as Muslims and offering Namaz at the LuLu mall is false. The trio was arrested over an attempt to recite Hanuman Chalisa at the mall.

Result: Partly False

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Authors

Vasudha Beri

Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.