Varanasi: Fourteen Islamist individuals have been arrested for allegedly desecrating a place of worship and hurting religious sentiments after a video emerged showing them eating chicken biryani during an Iftar gathering on a boat in the Ganga River and reportedly throwing leftover food into the water, officials said. The action came after a written complaint was filed on Monday by BJP Yuva Morcha city unit chief Rajat Jaiswal, following which a case was registered at the Kotwali police station.
BIG NEWS 🚨 14 Muslims arrested by UP Police for eating Biryani on boat & throwing bones in River Ganga. pic.twitter.com/pBSb7eNgIX
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In his complaint, Jaiswal alleged that the Islamists had organised an Iftar gathering on a boat in the river and consumed non-vegetarian food, which he said hurt religious sentiments.
“The Ganga holds deep and unwavering significance for followers of Sanatan Dharma. Devotees from across the country and abroad visit Kashi daily to perform rituals and offer prayers using its sacred water. In such a context, consuming biryani on a boat in the middle of the river and discarding leftovers into it is wholly inappropriate. This act appears to have been carried out with the intent to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus,” Jaiswal said.
Additional Commissioner of Police Vijay Pratap Singh said on Tuesday that the video, which went viral on Monday, allegedly showed a group hosting an Iftar gathering on a boat in the Ganga and consuming biryani during the event.
According to sources, an FIR has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including 298 (defiling a place of worship with intent to insult religion), 299 (deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 196(1)(b) (promoting enmity between groups), 270 (public nuisance), and 279 (fouling water of a public source), along with provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
