Video of Vandalised Temple in Andhra Pradesh Shared With False Communal Angle

The police told us that there was no communal angle to the incident and the main accused was a Hindu priest.

Annamayya SP Vidyasagar Naidu told The Quint that the communal angle given to the incident was false, and that the main accused is a Hindu priest.

(Source: X/Altered by The Quint)

A video showing a small temple, tilted off the ground with a broken gate and damaged walls, is being shared on social media platforms.

The claim: The video is being widely shared on X (formerly Twitter), where users are claiming that a Hanuman Temple was vandalised in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district by people belonging to the Muslim community.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

At the time of writing this report, this X post by user 'MeghUpdates' had gathered over 1.7 lakh views.

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, and here.)

But...?: There is no communal angle to the incident.

• The Quint contacted Annamayya Police Superintendent (SP) Vidyasagar Naidu, who said that temple was vandalised by a Hindu priest from a rival temple, identified as Hari Yadav.

How did we find out the truth?: We ran a Google search using the term 'Chittoor temple vandalised' as keywords.

• This led us to a report by India Today dated 16 October which mentioned that "unknown miscreants" had vandalised the Anjaneya Swamy Temple in Andhra Pradesh.

• It added that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had filed complaints over the vandalism and that the police had started an investigation into the case.

A more recent report published by Telangana Today said that Harinath Yadav, the priest of a another temple in the district, along with five others had vandalised the temple on 16 October 2024.

The report said that a Hindu priest was arrested.

(Source: Telangana Today/Screenshot)

• The priest of this Abhaya Anjaneya Swamy temple, Vidyasagar, had filed a complaint with the police, who found that Harinath Yadav had taken the help of five people to damage the temple, as he wanted to take control over its income.

Police clarify: The Quint reached out the Annamayya District Superintendent (SP) Vidyasagar Naidu, who rubbished the communal angle given to the claim.

• "It was done by a Hindu priest from another rival temple... The main accused is Hari Yadav, a Hindu priest of Kanugunda Swamy temple," he stated.

• Elaborating on the matter, the SP said that both priests had some issues regarding who should manage the Abhaya Anjaneya temple.

• "The accused wanted the manage the temple as the government is giving some 10,000 rupees as grant for it. He saw it as some kind of regular income," he said.

• Yadav had hired five labourers for demolishing the temple, SP Naidu told us, aiming to malign the complainant and later take control of the temple.

"He told the labourers that there was a treasure under the temple," he said, adding that "one of them was Muslim. There is no communal angle to this. He did not go with the intention of destroying a temple, he went for his daily work."

The SP emphatically denied any communal nature to the incident, stating that "four other accused are Hindu. The prime accused is a Hindu priest."

Conclusion: A video of a vandalised temple in Andhra Pradesh has gone viral with a false communal claim.

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