Iftar on boat: Court rejects bail plea of 14 accused

Varanasi: The court of the Additional District Judge-VI on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of 14 Muslim youths, who were jailed on charges of holding an iftar party on a boat and dumping waste, including biryani bones, into the Ganga river in the city.The bail plea was moved before the court of ADJ-VI Alok Kumar, who, after hearing the arguments of both parties, rejected it, said additional district govt counsel (criminal) Santosh Tiwari.Tiwari said, "The court observed that the act of instigating religious sentiments and making this act viral on social media further increases the gravity of the offence. Prima facie, the video makes it clear that the act was conducted to disturb communal harmony at a time when festivals, including Eid, were due."After rejection of bail, all the accused —Mohd Awwal, Amzad Ali, Mohd Samir, Mohd Ahmad alias Raza, Noor Ismail, Mohd Faizan, Mohd Ahmad, Mohd Tahseem, Mahfooj Alam, Mohd Tausif Ahmad, Amir Kaifi, Nehal Afridi, Mohd Anas and Danish Saifi — were sent back behind bars.The accused were arrested on Mar 17 on a written complaint filed by BJP Yuva Morcha city unit chief Rajat Jaiswal.ACP (Kotwali) Vijay Pratap Singh said they had been booked under BNS Sections 298 (defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult a religion), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 196(1)(b) (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion), 270 (public nuisance), 223(b) (disobeying public servant's order) and Section 24 of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974. Consequently, Section 308 of BNS has been added to the case, carrying a provision of 10 years' imprisonment.The complainant alleged, "The viral video showed that some Muslim youths consumed non-veg food in the name of an iftar party while sailing in front of Bindu Madhav Dharara temple, referring to the temple in the background as Alamgir Mosque. They later dumped the waste and bones into the river." tnn