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Gyanvapi case litigant gets threat to life: Cops
The call came days after a Varanasi court on Thursday ordered an archaeological survey of the centuries-old mosque complex abutting the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
Harihar Pandey, one of three litigants who filed a case in a civil court in 1991 seeking permission to offer Hindu prayers at the Gyanvapi mosque compound in Varanasi received a threat to life on Thursday evening after which he was provided security, police said on Saturday.
The call came days after a Varanasi court on Thursday ordered an archaeological survey of the centuries-old mosque complex abutting the Kashi Vishwanath temple, saying the exercise was required to decide on pleas that allege the Muslim place of worship was built by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after partially demolishing a Hindu shrine.
“This court finds that a survey by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) alone can bring out the truth before this court. Irrespective of what surfaces, the survey by the ASI may go on to help not only the plaintiffs, but also to the defendants, if their version is indeed true,” the order read.
Muslim parties opposed the decision and said they will approach the Allahabad high court.
Pandey along with Sonmantha Vyas and Rangnath Sharma is a petitioner in the case. The three had filed the case on behalf of Swayambhu Lord Vishweshwar.
Pandey said on Thursday that he received a call from an unknown number wherein a person threatened him saying that even though he had won the case he would not be able to get a survey done by the ASI and would face serious consequences.
Pandey said he filed a police complaint on Friday. Assistant commissioner of police, Dashshwamedh, Awadhesh Pandey said a probe was being conducted and two policemen were deployed for the complainant’s personal security. The mobile number from which the call was made was being traced, he said.
Civil judge (senior division) Ashutosh Tiwari ordered a five-member committee -- comprising two members each from the Hindu and the Muslim side and an archaeological expert -- to oversee a “comprehensive physical survey”.
A court-appointed observer will chair the panel. The ASI will conduct the exercise at its expense without any media briefings, the judge ordered. The court fixed May 31 as the next date of hearing.
