A set of unrelated images are going viral on social media where it shows a man serving biriyani, while others show large amount of tablets in boxes. These images are being shared with claims that it shows a restaurant in Coimbatore serving biryani laced with tablets to Hindus, which would render them impotent. The claim has been debunked by Coimbatore Police on Twitter, who called out the post as fake news and launched a probe to trace the handle that originally posted it.
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On March 1, 2020, Twitter user RD Singh (@RD_RANA) tweeted out the images with the following caption:
"Biryani is cooked in separate vessels for Muslims & 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."
Taking keywords out of the caption, we did a search on Facebook, to find it being shared on the social media platform site as well.
Fact Check
BOOM ran the photos through reverse image searches, and traced them to unrelated incidents from India and Sri Lanka.
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The image of man serving biriyani was found in the thumbnail of a YouTube video posted on June 30, 2016, with the title: "Indian Muslim festival DUM BIRYANI Preparation for 30 People & STREET FOOD".
The images of tablets were traced back to an article by Daily Mirror Sri Lanka, which talks about a father-son duo being nabbed by the police in Colombo for storing illegal drugs worth Rs. 4 million (Sri Lankan Rupees).
Coimbatore City Police promptly replied to the original tweet by RD Singh, stating that, "No one should believe this tweet handle as it is spreading fake news." The also went on to state that they're trying to trace the handle that posted the images with the communal caption.
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