Varanasi court sends 14 to judicial custody over Iftar party on boat in Ganga

VARANASI: A court in Varanasi has sent 14 people to judicial custody for allegedly hosting an Iftar party and consuming chicken biryani on a boat in the Ganga river, an advocate said on Friday. Additional Civil Judge (Sr Div)/ACJM Amit Kumar Yadav on Thursday remanded all the accused to 14-day judicial custody after rejecting their bail applications, according to news agency PTI.According to advocate Shashank Shekhar Tripathi, appearing for complainant Rajat Jaiswal, the accused allegedly threatened a boatman and forced him to accompany them before hosting the party on his boat in the river. The case came to light after a video of the incident surfaced online on Monday. A written complaint was filed the same day by Jaiswal, BJP Yuva Morcha’s city unit chief. Police submitted a report in court citing the boatman’s statement and eyewitness accounts. Following this, a plea was moved to add more charges against the accused, including kidnapping. Based on Jaiswal’s complaint, the accused were booked and arrested on charges of defiling a place of worship and hurting religious sentiments."The Ganga holds deep and unshakeable faith for the followers of Sanatan Dharma. Thousands of devotees from across the country and the world visit Kashi every day to perform rituals and offer prayers using Ganga water," Jaisawal said."In such a situation, eating biryani on a boat in the middle of the river and throwing its leftovers into the water is completely inappropriate. This act appears to have been done with the intention of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus," he added. The case has been registered under BNS sections 298 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 196(1)(B) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place etc), 270 (public nuisance), 279 (fouling water of public spring or reservoir), along with provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.