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Instagram · May 17, 2026

Source-backed True Truth Percentage: 90% CORRECT

Religious Mastermind Hired Muslim to Steal from Temples, Police Confirm

crime law enforcement religion

A man named Vijay Shukla, identified as a staunch Hindu, orchestrated temple thefts in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, by employing Muslims to steal, claiming he did so to avoid incurring sin himself, and even offered bonuses for more thefts.

What's right

Many thefts of donation boxes, idols, and ornaments were indeed happening in temples in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh.
Police investigations led to the arrest of a thief named Babar Shah.
The mastermind of the theft gang was identified as Vijay Shukla.
Vijay Shukla confessed to police that he is a religious man and, fearing to incur sin himself, he hired others, specifically a young Muslim named Babarsah (Babar Shah), to carry out the thefts from temples.
The gang also used poisoned sweets to kill dogs around temples before committing thefts.
Vijay Shukla reportedly abstained from committing crimes on Tuesdays and Saturdays, using these days to scout temples for future thefts.
While the exact Hindustan Times article headline mentioned in the claim was not found, the core factual details attributed to it regarding Vijay Shukla's motivation and the involvement of Babar Shah are corroborated by other reliable news sources.

What's wrong

The claim states that Vijay Shukla employed 'Muslims' (plural) to steal, whereas the news reports specifically mention 'a young Muslim named Babarsah' (singular) as his accomplice.
The detail about Babar Shah receiving a bonus for more thefts was not found in the provided search results.
The claim about thieves finding an 'auspicious time' for theft is not explicitly mentioned, though Vijay Shukla's practice of not stealing on Tuesdays and Saturdays is confirmed.

Breakdown

The central claims regarding Vijay Shukla being the mastermind of temple thefts in Chitrakoot, his religious motivation for employing a Muslim (Babar Shah) to steal to avoid personal sin, and the involvement of Babar Shah are strongly corroborated by multiple news reports from April 2026, including The Times of India and Dailyhunt. These reports align with the video's upload date of May 17, 2026, indicating the information is current and accurate as of the upload date and remains accurate now.

Minor discrepancies include the plural use of 'Muslims' versus the singular 'Babarsah' mentioned in reports, and the absence of information regarding 'bonuses' for more thefts. The specific Hindustan Times headline was not found, but the factual content attributed to it is verified by other sources.

The core narrative of the video is factually accurate. [1][2]

Reference sources

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