No, Viral Video Doesn't Show Mosque Being Demolished in UP's Unnao

Unnao's ADM Rakesh Kumar Singh told us that the structure seen in the video is the "gate of an illegal society".

Social media users falsely claimed that the video showed a mosque being demolished in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of a demolition drive in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao is being shared to claim that a mosque along with some houses were removed in the process.

However, Rakesh Kumar Singh, additional district magistrate, Unnao, told us that no mosque was demolished and the structure seen in the video is the "gate of an illegal society".

CLAIM

The claim along with the video reads: 'उन्नाव वाला बकरा जो बद्रीनाथ को बदरुदीन शाह की जगह बता रहा था उसके मस्जिद और आसपास के घर उड़ा दिए , fir दर्ज की और कागज दिखाने को बोला गया अवैध बनी थी मस्जिद और घर।'

(Translated: The mosque and nearby houses of Unnao's goat who said that Badrinath is the place of Badruddin Shah blew up. FIR has been registered and were asked to show papers. Mosque and houses were built illegally.)

You can view the archived version here.

(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

The video saw its widespread presence on Facebook with many users sharing it with the same claim and the archived posts can be viewed here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We searched on Google with keywords 'उन्नाव बुलडोज़र' (Translated: Unnao bulldozer) and came across a bulletin aired by ABP Ganga on 26 July that carried the viral visuals and mentioned that the Jal Shakti department carried out a drive and removed illegal structures and freed 2.5 acres of land from land mafia.

On 26 July, news channel News18 published an article on the incident mentioning that illegal structures on the land of irrigation department included buildings and shops.

As many as eight JCB machines were present at the spot along with officials of the district administration and police officers.

On 23 June 2020, Arun Singh, member of district panchayat, had complained about the possession of the Irrigation Department's land in the Sohramau police station area on the Lucknow-Kanpur Highway.

However, none of these reports mention any mosque being demolished during the drive.

Further, UP Irrigation Department, too, had tweeted the viral visuals on 26 July mentioning about removal of encroachments in Unnao.

ADDITIONAL DISTRICT MAGISTRATE, UNNAO ASP CALL OUT VIRAL CLAIM

Speaking to The Quint's WebQoof team, Rakesh Kumar Singh, Unnao's Additional District Magistrate said that the viral claim is false.

"The structure that you see in the video is the gate of an illegal society and not a mosque. There is no religious site at the location."

Rakesh Kumar Singh, Additional District Magistrate, Unnao

Meanwhile, Shashi Shekhar Singh, Additional SP, Unnao, told us that the claim is absolutely false. "It's mischievous and unscrupulous,” he said.

“The structure that you see being demolished, is a non-religious building that was built on the land of the Department of Irrigation, Uttar Pradesh, after encroachment. Strict legal provisions were followed during the demolition of the encroached property,” he added.

We also spoke to a local reporter Gaurav Sharma who, too, said that there is no religious site at the spot and that the structure seen in the viral video is the “entrance of an illegal society developed by a local property dealer".

Evidently, social media users falsely claimed that the video showed a mosque being demolished in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh.

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