Days to go before Eid, Charminar and its surrounding areas wore a deserted look on Wednesday as the lockdown kicked in at 10 a.m. Hawkers, vendors and buyers who reached the main shopping thoroughfare by 5 a.m. were sent packing by police. “Except for police personnel, medical shop owners and a few residents, we asked everyone to leave,” said an official of the Charminar police station.
However, by afternoon, a video showing crowds near Gulzar Houz allegedly at 1.03 p.m. with communal messages was circulating in social media.
Photographers dismissed the videos as dated by measuring the shadows. “The shadow is falling to the right of people walking towards Charminar from Gulzar Houz proving that the Sun is in the east. The video would have been shot between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and not later than that,” said a photographer who was at the location at 1.30 p.m.
“It is an old video with a different time stamp. It is being circulated to create trouble,” said a Charminar PS official.
Finally, the Hyderabad City Police was forced to tweet a photograph showing the actual situation: “This is the present situation near the Charminar. Strict lockdown has been implemented here and some old videos are being circulated on social media showing that establishments are opened.”
The eerie calm in the busy area was broken by the sound of azaan from the masjids.
However, all the masjids in the city had notices about stoppage of regular communal prayers asking the namazis to pray at home. Only members of the masjid committee were allowed inside for the prayers limiting the number to under 10.