Fake post claims Coimbatore restaurant run by Muslims sells drug-laced food to Hindus

Police are on the lookout for the person who shared the fake news post which named a random restaurant with a Muslim name.

Delve Fake News

There is no dearth of fake news being spread on social media. While some are done with an intent to spread misinformation, some are politically motivated, others are simply to create communal divides. A recent tweet that went viral on Twitter had pictures of a man serving biriyani followed by pictures of medicines. The accompanying text by Twitter user RD Singh (@RD_BANA) was Islamophobic and false in nature, spreading misinformation that a shop in Coimbatore was serving separate biriyani to Hindus laced with drugs that would make one impotent.

“Biryani is cooked in separate vessels for Muslims and Hindus. The Biryani for Hindus is laced with tablets that makes one impotent. Restaurant in Coimbatore called Masha Allah of Rehman Bismillah was caught selling such Biryani. Beware! They’re getting at you in every possible way,” the tweet read.

Screenshot of the tweet that has now been deleted

Reacting to the tweet, the Coimbatore City Police issued a clarification from their official Twitter handle. Warning people against spreading false information, CCP said they were trying to trace the Twitter user. “Don’t spread fake news. Be responsible user of social media. No one should believe this tweet handle as it is spreading fake news. CCP is working to trace this handle,” the response reads.

Don’t spread fake news. Be responsible user of social media. No one should believe this tweet handle as it is spreading fake news. CCP is working to trace this handle. — Coimbatore City Police (@policecbecity) March 2, 2020

Speaking to TNM, Coimbatore City Police Commissioner Sumit Sharan IPS says, “This is fake news, please do not believe it. We are trying to find out who the handle belongs to. We will take appropriate action once we find out.”

A simple reverse image search of the pictures in the tweet shows that the image with the medicines is from 2019 when illegal drugs worth Rs 4 million were recovered from an elderly Sri Lankan man and his son. A report from Daily Mirror LK says the two were taken into custody following a tipoff.

Similarly, the picture of the Muslim man serving biriyani is the thumbnail that appears for a 2016 video on YouTube titled ‘Indian Muslim festival DUM BIRYANI Preparation for 30 People & STREET FOOD’, which has over 40 lakh views.

Several users were quick to point out that the news was fake and that the pictures of the medicines were actually from Sri Lanka. Following this, the user appears to have deleted the tweet.

The user, whose bio reads “Honoured to be followed by Piyush Goyal Saheb”, has posted many similar claims.

Many other handles too have shared the same post, the FB post below got more than 600 shares.