Old, Unrelated Video From Telangana Falsely Shared As DMK Goons Beating Up Temple Activist In Tamil Nadu

A 30-second video purportedly showing a mob thrashing a man even as police try to intervene is going viral on social media. “Rangarajan Narasimhan, who filed a case against the DMK government for alleged irregularities in Hindu temples, was attacked by DMK rowdies in the Trichy court premises,” read the claim, referring to the activist known for his outspoken criticism of temple management practices and the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu. Narasimhan had in December 2025 been arrested by the Chennai Cyber Crime Police on charges of making derogatory remarks against Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin

The archived version of the person can be seen here, which has clocked 114.5K views so far. We have received this video on our Whatsapp tipline (+91-9999499044), too, with users requesting us to fact-check it.

Fact Check

Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Rangarajan Narasimhan DMK goons attack Trichy”, which did not lead us to any credible news report nor video, raising our doubts.

We then ran a reverse image search of keyframes, which led us to this Sakshi Post report, dated December 30, 2022, sharing a screengrab (left) similar to a still from the viral video (right).

“Hyderabad city police filed a case against the Dalit leader and ‘Bharata Nasthika Samajam’ President Bairi Naresh for allegedly making ‘insulting’ remarks against Lord Ayyappa Swamy at a public meeting two days ago. Naresh was booked under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)…Devotees of Ayyappa Swamy organised protests across Telangana on Friday and demanded the Dalit leader’s arrest for hurting the sentiments of the devotees of Ayyappa Swamy,” read the article.

Although the report did not mention about Bairi Naresh being assaulted, we can clearly see Ayyappa devotees, clad in black traditional clothing for their pilgrimage to Sabarimala, as part of the mob in the video, which indicates that the viral claim is false.

A further search led us to this News18 report on Youtube, dated December 30, 2022, stating, “Protests erupt across Telangana over controversial comments against Lord Ayyappa by Bairi Naresh, who is now arrested”. The viral excerpt can be seen as part of the report from the 01:52 mark

Newschecker then came across these Sakshi TV and TV9 Telugu reports on Youtube, dated December 30, 2022 and featuring the viral video, stating that Naresh was attacked by Ayyappa devotees in Kosgi before being rescued by police. We also came across this Asianet News Telugu report from December 30, 2022 on Naresh being attacked, further confirming that the viral video is being shared with a false claim. We learnt that the Telangana police arrested atheist activist Bairi Naresh on December 31, 2022, for his December 19, 2022 remarks against Hindu deities, including Lord Ayyappa, after multiple complaints were lodged against him and protests were held by BJP and other pro-Hindu organisations.

Also Read: Did Army Deputy Chief ‘Admit’ To India Losing S-400s During Conflict With Pakistan?

Conclusion

Viral video falsely claims to show DMK workers beating up a temple activist for filing a case against the Tamil Nadu government.

Sources
Sakshi Post, December 30, 2022
News18 report, December 30, 2022
Asianet News Telugu report, December 30, 2022
TV9 Telugu report, December 30, 2022