Varanasi: In a significant development, the owners of the boat where 14 youth held an iftar party have claimed that their canoe was forcibly taken against their will.
The statements made by Ranjan Sahni and Anil Sahni were recorded by the investigating officer and read aloud in a Varanasi court by the public prosecutor during the hearing on Thursday, March 19.
The incident relates to the viral video of 14 Muslim youths who organised an iftar party on a boat in the Ganga, Varanasi, considered sacred by Hindus. During the party, they had chicken biryani, with the complaint claiming that they threw the biryani waste in the holy waters.
They were booked on Monday, March 16, and a written complaint was filed the same day by Rajat Jaiswal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Yuva Morcha city unit chief.
According to Advocate Shashank Shekhar Tripathi, representing complainant Jaiswal, the accused had threatened a boatman and forcibly taken him along before holding the party on his boat in the river.
Additional Civil Judge Amit Kumar Yadav sent the 14 individuals to 14-day judicial custody after rejecting the accused’s bail applications and additionally demanded their criminal history.
The police submitted a report to the court, citing the boatman’s statement and eyewitness accounts. Consequently, a plea was filed to add several additional charges against the accused, including kidnapping.
The case is currently registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 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) and 279 (fouling water of public spring or reservoir), as well as under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
According to Advocate Nityanand Rai, if the BNS Section 308/5, defining aggravated extortion, is added, their punishment could extend to more than 10 years of imprisonment.
“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.
(With inputs from PTI)
