Fourteen individuals face arrest in Varanasi after a controversial Iftar party on the Ganga River, where the consumption of chicken biryani allegedly offended religious sentiments and led to accusations of defiling a sacred place.
Key Points
- Fourteen people were arrested for allegedly eating chicken biryani during an Iftar party on a boat in the Ganga River, sparking outrage.
- The arrests followed a complaint by a BJP Yuva Morcha leader, who accused the group of hurting Hindu religious sentiments by consuming biryani on the Ganga.
- The FIR was lodged under various sections of the BNS and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
- The Ganga River holds deep religious significance for Hindus, with devotees visiting Kashi daily to perform rituals and prayers using Ganga water.
Fourteen people have been arrested on charges of defiling a place of worship and hurting religious feelings after a video purportedly showing them participating in an Iftar meal, eating biryani on a boat, on the Ganga river in Varanasi, officials said on Tuesday.
The action was taken on a written complaint filed on Monday by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's Varanasi unit chief Rajat Jaiswal.
Jaiswal alleged that an Iftar was organised on a boat on the Ganga, during which biryani was consumed.
"The Ganga holds deep and unshakeable faith for 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.
"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 said.
FIR lodged for 'defiling place of worship, outrage religious feelings'
The FIR was lodged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 298 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 299 (deliberate and malacious 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) and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vijay Pratap Singh on Tuesday said that a video went viral on Monday, purportedly showing a group of people holding Iftar on a boat on the Ganga and consuming biryani during the gathering.
© 2026