Ganga boat iftar: HC to hear bail plea May 5

Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court on Monday fixed May 5 for hearing the bail application of some Muslim youths accused of organizing an iftar party on a boat in the Ganga in Varanasi and disposing of biryani waste in the river.The order was passed by Justice Jitendra Kumar Sinha on a bail application of Danish Shaifi, one of the accused in this case.An FIR was lodged on March 16 on a complaint by Rajat Jaiswal, the president of BJP Yuva Morcha, at Kotwali police station of Varanasi against the incident, which according to him hurt the religious sentiments.It is claimed that the men broke their Ramzan fast on a boat on the Ganga on March 15, consumed meat and thew the waste into the river.Following the FIR, 14 youths were arrested, with the police invoking a battery of provisions against them including BNS sections pertaining to defiling a place of worship, outraging religious feelings and, later, extortion.Earlier, a sessions court at Varanasi had denied them bail.