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Boat party on Ganga: Two absconding youths nabbed
The two youths identified as Mohd Asif (25) and Hassan Ahmad (30) of Bakshi Khurd locality in Daraganj were nabbed after remaining on the run for three days, informed SHO of Sagaranj police station Virendra Kumar. Efforts now on to identify others with the duo during the boat ride
PRAYAGRAJ: Two of the eight youths who were seen smoking hookah and roasting meat on two boats in the Ganga at Daraganj area and were named in the FIR lodged in connection with the incident, were arrested by the Daraganj police on Saturday.
The two youths identified as Mohd Asif (25) and Hassan Ahmad (30) of Bakshi Khurd locality in Daraganj were nabbed after remaining on the run for three days, informed SHO of Sagaranj police station Virendra Kumar.
The SHO said that the duo was nabbed after getting a tip-off about their whereabouts near the Ganga Murti trisection in Daraganj. “They are now being questioned so as to identify the other six youths who were with them during the boat ride and cooking non-vegetarian food on the Ganga in the video that went viral on social media hurting religious sentiments. After questioning, further legal action will follow as per set procedure,” he added.
On August 29, a video was widely shared on social media in which eight youths on boats were seen smoking hookah and roasting chicken and mutton. The area was flooded and inundated houses were visible around the boat in the video clip, police said.
The video clip had caused outrage among people of Hindu community who revere the Ganga and the Sangam—the holy confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati— and come here to perform religious ceremonies, including immersion of ashes from all over India and even abroad. Many saints and seers too had demanded strict action against the youths as per law.
The Daraganj police had on August 31 lodged an FIR against two named and six unidentified people under sections 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different religious groups) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“The duo had been on the run since the lodging of the FIR. Police teams were continuously carrying out raids to trace their whereabouts and arrest them. Investigations were also underway and the help of boatmen, as well locals, was also being sought to identify the other six youths visible in the viral video,” the SHO added.
As per the FIR lodged on the complaint of SI Diwakar Singh of the Daraganj police station, a copy of which is with HT, the video of the two boats was shot on the floodwater logged interlocking road leading to Bakshi Bandh via Nagvasuki temple in Sangam area.
