A viral post claiming that an Imam (person leading prayers in Islam) named Fazlur Rehman in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district was beheaded is being shared on social media platforms.
Those sharing insinuated that a communal angle was behind the Imam's death by adding hashtags that symbolise the same.
(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)
Is this true?: The claim is false and there was no communal angle in this incident, confirmed the Superintendent of Police's office in Shamli. They further confirmed that it was the Imam's son, Junaid who killed him.
The Quint had earlier reported that the local villagers said that the Imam’s son, who is the accused in the case, had mental health issues and was undergoing treatment for the same.
The brother of the deceased Imam had lodged a complaint against Junaid.
How did we find out?: The Quint reported on 12 June that 58-year-old Imam Fazlur Rehman’s beheaded body was found in a jungle in the Balla Majra village, near Jhinjhana in Shamli.
The Imam was killed by his son, Junaid, which was confirmed by Shamli SP's office.
Additionally, the communal claim was denied by the police.
They also said "We found the head (cut off from the body) about 500 metres from the body, in the same jungle."
The district police was also posted on Shamli police's X page on 11 June.
Our report also mentioned that residents in the area said that the son of the Imam, who is the primary suspect, suffered from mental health problems and was receiving medical care for this condition.
Similarly ThePrint also reported on the incident. The story was attributed to the Press Trust of India (PTI).
The story reported that the brother of the deceased imam lodged a complaint against Junaid (imam's son), in this matter.
Taking to their X account, Shamli police followed up and mentioned that they had solved the case by arrested the accused and recovering the murder weapon.
None of the reports or information by the police mentioned that the death happened due to any communal motives.
Some social media posts have alleged that three Imams were murdered in Uttar Pradesh in the span of a week, alleging that the imams were killed because people of the state voted for the India Alliance instead of the BJP.
The locations mentioned in these posts were Pratapgarh and Moradabad, along with Shamli. You can see those posts here and here.
The Quint's report from 10 June mentioned that the Imam's death in Pratapgarh happened over financial issues. The police said, "It was neither a property dispute or a communal crime per say, the accused alleged that he had given some money in advance which he wanted to be returned to him." They said that the FIR was lodged on the same day, which includes charges of Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for murder) against five individuals.
The Quint's report from 12 June noted the death of the maulana in Moradabad. The police said, "Maulana Akram was shot down in the khandar next to his home. We have sent the body for post-mortem. Someone possibly called him at night and asked him to come outside. And then he was shot down sometime at night itself." They added that no arrest has been made in the case yet.
According to a report in The Times of India, the police also mentioned, "It appears the accused is well known to the victim. We registered an FIR against unknown persons for now."
Conclusion: Social media users have falsely claimed that the Imam was killed due to communal reasons.
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