Old Video Of Arrest Of BJP MLA Raja Singh Shared with False Claim

A video has gone viral showing the arrest of BJP MLA Raja Singh in Hyderabad, Telangana. The post has spread online with captions proclaiming that the MLA was arrested for protesting against Muslim community members offering Namaz on the main road near a temple.

From October of this year, there has been a widespread backlash against members from the Muslim community offering namaz in public spaces in urban centres such as Gurugram. Members of the Bajrang Dal and other right-wing groups have held protests against Muslims offering prayers on open grounds.

As per this Times of India article, places for offering namaz have been restricted to six open sites from 37 areas earlier in Gurugram. The following video has gone viral across social media.

The post has gone viral with the following caption: "एक घटना हैदराबाद की जो आपकी आँखे खोल देगी बीजेपी के MLA राजा सिंह जो की अकेले MLA जीते है बीजेपी की तरफ से उन्हे कल रात को अर्रेस्ट किया गया। उसकी वजह क्या थी? क्यों की अंबर पेट इलाके मे अल्पसंख्यक समुदाय के एक ग्रुप ने मंदिर के पास मैन रोड पर तीन दीन से नमाज पढना शुरु किया था। हैदराबाद बहु अल्पसंख्यक इलाका है। जब इसका विरोध BJP की पार्टी के MLA ने की तो देखीये किस तरह उन्हे गिरफ्तार किया गया? जिस पोलिस ऑफिसर ने आदेश दिये वोह खूद commissioner ऑफ़ पुलिस है। जिस तरह से पुलिस कर्मचारीओ ने MLA राजा सिंह के साथ ये बर्ताव किया उसे देखकर सामान्य आदमी के साथ क्या नही हो सकता?? भारत माता की जय।"

[This translates to: "In an eye-opening incident from Hyderabad, BJP's MLA Raja Singh, who is the only MLA in Hyderabad, was arrested last night. What was the reason for that? Because a group of a minority community in the Amber Pet area started offering Namaz for the past three days on a main road near the temple. Hyderabad is an area with a lot of minorities. When the MLA of BJP's party opposed this, see how he has been arrested? The police officer who gave the orders for the arrest is the commissioner of police himself. After seeing how police personnel behaved with MLA Raja Singh, what could not happen to a commoner? Long live Mother India."]

The tweet has gone viral across Twitter with the same caption.

एक घटना हैदराबाद की जो आपकी आँखे खोल देगी

बीजेपी के MLA राजा सिंह जो की अकेले MLA जीते है बीजेपी की तरफ से उन्हे कल रात को अर्रेस्ट किया गया।

उसकी वजह क्या थी? क्यों की अंबर पेट इलाके मे अल्पसंख्यक समुदाय के एक ग्रुप ने मंदिर के पास मैन रोड पर तीन दीन से नमाज पढना शुरु किया था pic.twitter.com/6R7rOe7Hs1

— 🚩🇮🇳उमा शंकर राघव*️⃣🇮🇳🚩8k (@UmaShankar2054) December 22, 2021

[Translation: In an eye-opening incident from Hyderabad, BJP's MLA Raja Singh, who is the only MLA in Hyderabad, was arrested last night. What was the reason for that? Because a group of a minority community in the Amber Pet area started offering Namaz for three days on a main road near the temple.]

Claim:

BJP MLA Raja Singh was arrested after protesting against Muslim community members offering Namaz on the main road near a temple.

Fact Check:

We conducted a keyframe analysis on the video using InVid's Keyframe tool. Following a reverse image search, we came across this tweet from the Official Twitter Account of T.Raja Singh, the BJP MLA in question. In the tweet dated May 5, 2019, he elaborated that the Hyderabad Police Commissioner arrested him for "opposing Illegal masjid construction on road opposed by Hindu Vahini & local Hindu karayakartas at Amberpet." In this tweet, the recently shared viral video can be seen.

Arrested by @hydcitypolice Police Commissioner while opposing for
Illegal masjid construction on road opposed by hindu vahini & local Hindu karayakartas at Amberpet #Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/w2qbdTm07c

— Raja Singh (@TigerRajaSingh) May 5, 2019

After learning that the incident was from 2019, we conducted a keyword search for reports from that day. We also found a video dated May 6 2019, containing snippets from the video uploaded across social media.

The MLA Raja Singh also issued a statement, as seen in this video dated May 7, 2019.

As per a report on NDTV, T Raja Singh, was taken into police custody in Hyderabad after conflicts over constructing a shed on a land where a place of worship was demolished. T Raja Singh represents the Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad. As per the report, he was present there to "enquire about the situation".

Conclusion:

Evidently, the claim that MLA Raja Singh was arrested after he protested against Muslim community members offering Namaz on the main road near a temple is false. The incident occurred in May 2019, when the MLA was arrested following conflicts over constructing a shed on a land where a place of worship was demolished.

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