A video of a young man lighting a cigarette using a lamp inside a Shiva temple on Ranamandala Hill, in Andhra Pradesh is viral on social media with a false communal claim that he is Muslim.
BOOM found that the video is from 2022 and the individual, named Vadde Eranna, is a resident of Virupapuram village in Kurnool, hailing from the Hindu community.
The Claim
The 12-second video is viral with claims that the youth seen desecrating the Ranamandala Anjaneya Swamy Temple in Kurnool belongs to the Muslim community.
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What We Found:
1) Youth in the Video is Vadde Eranna
We ran a reverse image search and found news reports of the incident. The Adoni Town Police have arrested Vadde Eranna on July 7, 2026 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. During questioning, Eranna revealed that the video was recorded in 2022, when he visited the temple in Class 10 along with his friends.
2) Local Police Denies Communal Angle
BOOM spoke to a police officer from the Adoni One Town Police Station, who confirmed that the young man was Hindu and denied any communal angle in the case.
3) Statement from AP State Government
The AP fact checking unit published a statement on X, confirming the details of the case.
Translation of Statement:
As police investigated the antecedents of a video showing a young man lighting a cigarette with the flame of a sacred lamp burning in a Shiva temple, startling truths came to light. The incident occurred in the past (in 2022). Police investigations revealed that this incident took place in 2022 at the Shiva temple located on Ranamandal hill in the Adoni constituency. Police inquiries confirmed that Vaddera Eeranna, a young man from Virupapuram village in Adoni Mandal, was involved in this misdeed along with three friends during the time of the 10th class supplementary exams that year. No case was even registered at the time regarding this incident that occurred back then. Now, with some individuals deliberately making the video go viral, police have registered a case under BNS Section 299. Police are continuing their investigation into the angle of why the video, filmed back then, has gone viral on social media now. Police are analyzing some recent developments that seem designed to sow discord between religions and castes, and to hurt and provoke the sentiments of Hindus.