'Ab nahi piyenge': Man drinks beer while bathing in Ganga, booked after video goes viral; watch

VARANASI: After a video of a youth having beer while bathing in the Ganga in Varanasi went viral and sparked outrage, Dashashwamedh police lodged an FIR against an unidentified person on Friday.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of an advocate, Shashank Tripathi, under BNS sections 196 (promoting enmity or engaging in acts that disturb harmony) and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings). In the purported video, the man is seen having a beer while bathing in the river.

According to eyewitnesses, around 5 am, the man came to bathe in the Ganga, along with his friends. Holding a beer can, he went into the river and started drinking. People in the video can be heard angrily telling him that he is desecrating the Ganga.



In the viral video, a man can be heard confronting him, saying in Hindi, “Brahmin hoke beer pee rahe ho, tumko samajh nahi aata Ganga nadi mein?” (You are a Brahmin and still drinking beer? Don’t you understand this is Ganga river?) The accused is then heard replying, “Ab nahi piyenge” (I won’t drink now).

The video has gone viral on social media, with people calling it a serious matter tied to religious faith and demanding action.
ACP Dashashwamed Atul Anjan Tripathi said that the teams have been formed to identify and nab the accused.

The incident comes two months after 14 youths were jailed for allegedly organizing an iftar party on a boat in Ganga in Varanasi and dumping non-veg biryani waste in the river. All the accused were recently granted bail by the Allahabad high court.