Old fake news about sale of Adyar Ananda Bhavan group to a Muslim group revived again.
Claim
Why are A2B & starbiryaani almost always adjacent shops, in the same building? ADYAR ANANDA BHAVAN & A2B is bought over by Muslim group and they are distributing Quran in the Shop openly. They still exhibit the old owner couple’s photo and Hindu God’s pictures to hold on to customers
Rating
Explanation
A recent interview of A2B group director, KT Srinivasa Raja went viral with misleading claims leading to the trend of ‘Boycott A2B’ hashtags on the X platform. Following this, it is claimed that Adyar Ananda Bhavan and A2B is bought over by Muslim group and that they are distributing Quran in the Shop openly. The viral post also mentions that they still exhibit the old owner couple’s photo and Hindu God’s pictures to hold on to customers. This same claim has been viral since 2022. Some of the posts can be seen here and here.
What is the truth?
When searching the official website of Adyar Ananda Bhavan, we found that the sweet shop was started decades back by K.S. Thirupathi Raja and the baton was passed on by him to his sons, Mr. K.T. Venkatesan and Mr. K.T. Srinivasa Raja who now act as the driving force behind A2B.
The Weekend Leader article dated January 2019 reported that K T Venkatesan is in charge of the business operations of Adyar Ananda Bhavan group and his son, V Vishnu Shankar is already a director in the company and is involved in the day-to-day activities of the company. The article also stated that around 15 out of the 140 outlets follow the revenue-sharing model, while the rest are company-owned.
The Times of India in April 2022 reported that K.T. Srinivasa Raja said that the third generation has entered the fray now as around 15 of their family members are involved in the operations.
We checked the list of directors on the website, Zaubacorp, which provides officially sourced information of businesses incorporated in India. This page lists 5 people as directors. The company ‘Adyar Ananda Bhavan Sweets India Provate Limited’ is said to have been incorporated in April 2009.
The list of directors shows K.T. Srinivasa Raja and K.T. Venkatesan as Directors from April 2009. Three others including Venkatesan’s son Vishnu Shankar were appointed as Directors in July 2019. None of the directors listed are Muslims. No other information on the change in directors is found. It would have been reflected in the list of directors if the company was sold to Muslims or others.
Youturn contacted Moon Graphics, a graphic design and print company that printed the Quran with A2B logo seen in the viral posts. Haashim, Printer clarified that the reading material is a portion of Quran and was printed 2 years back and not a recent one. Further he said that it was a gift printed during Ramzan time for advertisement purposes and that the idea was suggested by Moon Graphics.
Youturn reached out to A2B and they confirmed that the management remains the same and there is no change in it. Further they said that what is being shared is fake news when asked about the claim.
Conclusion
It is found that an old fake news of Adyar Ananda Bhavan being sold to a Muslim group has revived again. The company is not sold to anyone and is owned by the family of the late Thirupathi Raja who started the shop decades back.
