Video of brutal murder in Andhra Pradesh shared with false communal claim

(Trigger warning: This report contains descriptions of graphic violence. Reader discretion is advised. Logically Facts has not included links to the video due to its violent nature.)

What is the claim?

A graphic video of a brutal assault is circulating on social media, falsely claiming to show a man named Javed, allegedly from the Muslim community, killing a man from the Hindu community. The video shows a man attacking another person with a sharp weapon.

Screenshots of the viral posts. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot)

The claim is false. The video actually depicts an incident in Vinukonda, located in Andhra Pradesh's Palanadu district, where both the victim and the accused are Muslim men.

What we found 

A reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video led us to a Dainik Bhaskar article featuring blurred screenshots. The report, citing the police, states that the incident occurred on July 17 at around 8:30 p.m. Sheikh Rashid, a member of the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu (YSR) Congress youth wing, was attacked with a sharp weapon. The accused is identified as Sheikh Jilani, a local leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

The Dainik Bhaskar article also quotes District Police Chief Kanchi Srinivas Rao, who asserts that the incident has no political connections.

A Hindustan Times report from July 18, 2024, reveals that 27-year-old Rashid was attacked by Jilani while returning home. The incident occurred at the Mandalamudi bus stand, where the video was also filmed. The footage shows Rashid being severely beaten and then murdered with an axe. Following the attack, the ruling TDP and the opposition YSRCP exchanged accusations regarding the attacker’s party affiliation.

Various media outlets, including The Hindu, Deccan Herald, and Amar Ujala, have reported on the incident, confirming the deceased as Rashid and the attacker as Jilani.

Logically Facts spoke with Vinukonda Circle Inspector S. Sambasiva Rao, who stated, “The accused Jilani and the deceased Rashid were old friends who had a falling out, leading to the attack. Jilani enlisted the help of his friends, both Muslim and Hindu, to carry out the attack. We have arrested seven individuals so far.”

Inspector Rao added, "The claim that this incident is a Hindu-Muslim conflict is entirely false. It was a result of an old feud, with both the attacker and the victim being Muslims."

We also reviewed the First Information Report (FIR) (archived here) filed at the Vinukonda police station, which supports the claim of an old feud as the motive behind the attack. The FIR names Jilani, Suddu, Shafi, Imran, Rafi, and others as participants in the attack on Rashid.

The verdict 

Our investigation confirms that there is no communal angle to this incident. Both the police official and the FIR from the Vinukonda police station verify that both the accused and the deceased are men belonging to the Muslim community.

(Translated by Vanita Ganesh.)