Five men were arrested in Varanasi on June 23 after the Dashashwamedh police took suo motu cognisance of a video purportedly showing them cooking chicken and drinking beer on a small boat on the Ganges. The five were released on bail the same day. Curiously, the FIR mentioned Sections 196 (2) and 299 of the BNS, but the challan submitted in court showed arrest only under provisions of Section 170 of the BNSS
BNS 196 (2) and 299 deal with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds such as religion etc and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings. Section 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) empowers police to arrest individuals to prevent the commission of a cognizable offence.
Speaking to Alt News, station house officer (SHO) of Dashashwamedh police station Santosh Kumar confirmed that the challan submitted before the executive magistrate stated that the men had been “shouting” at tourists despite repeated attempts by the police to pacify them, creating a situation that could have led to a “breach of peace”. When asked why the FIR charges and the video evidence of cooking chicken on a boat were not mentioned, the officer made evasive responses.
In sharp contrast to this, just three months earlier, 14 Muslim men who had been arrested for consuming non-vegetarian food while breaking their fast aboard a boat on the Ganges,spent over two months behind the bars before securing bail from the Allahabad high court. They were initially booked under seven sections of the BNS and later also charged with the stringent BNS Section 308(5) (extortion under threat of death or grievous hurt) and Section 67 of the IT Act, pertaining to publishing or transmitting obscene material.
June Incident: Two Sections, Same Day Bail
A video circulating on social media showed nine men on a boat, wearing winter wear, cooking chicken, displaying bottles of alcohol, and referring to the gathering as a ‘party’, allegedly on the Ganges. As the video surfaced online, the police took suo-motu cognisance and registered a case. Five of the nine accused — Deepak Kumar, Arun Kumar Sahni, Rahul Sahni, Ajay Sahni and Anurag Nishad — were arrested the same day and released on bail shortly thereafter
Kumar, the SHO, confirmed to Alt News that an FIR (No. 0143/2026) was filed at the Dashashwamedh police station on June 23 at 2:18 am in this regard. According to the FIR, the individuals were “drinking beer/alcohol in a boat on the sacred banks of the Ganga and cooking chicken in the boat.” This act was described as being “against social decorum and public decency,” and it was stated that it “hurts the religious sentiments of millions of Hindus.”
Consequently, the police registered the case against the accused under Sections 196 (2) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds such as religion, race, caste, language, place of birth, residence, or community, and other acts prejudicial to maintaining harmony) and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the BNS
Throughout the FIR, the Ganges is referred to as the “sacred river,” and its banks are described as the “centre of faith, worship, penance, meditation, and salvation for Hindu society.” The complaint characterised the act as an “attempt to hurt religious sentiments, create social animosity, and pollute the religious environment.”
Differing Charges in FIR vs. Challan
The Wire first reported on June 24 that the charges stated in the FIR did not make it to the challan produced in court. While the FIR centred around the video showing men cooking non-veg food and consuming alcohol on a boat and therefore hurting religious sentiments; the challan recorded the arrest as only a preventive measure to avert the possible breach of peace following an altercation.
The challan is the arrest memo or the panchnama that the police submit to the court after filing a case.When asked about the reason for the discrepancy, the SHO said, “The investigation is still ongoing. As and when new findings are gathered, additional sections will be added, and the final chargesheet will be released.”
When asked why the primary reason for the arrest or complaint was not mentioned in the challan, he said, “In the video, it is clearly visible that the men were wearing jackets and sweaters, indicating that it was recorded a long time ago”.Kumar further stated that once the chargesheet was filed, “they will have to apply for bail again.”
Throughout the conversation, the SHO did not clarify as to why the grounds recorded in the FIR and those cited in the challan/panchnama differed so significantly.
March Incident: Multiple Stringent Sections, Months In Jail
On March 16, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Varanasi president Rajat Jaiswal lodged a complaint after a video surfaced showing a group of Muslim men breaking their fast aboard a boat on the Ganges. Jaiswal alleged that the men had consumed chicken biryani, disposed of food waste into the river, and thereby hurt Hindu religious sentiments.
The police on March 17 arrested all 14 men — Azad Ali, Aamir Kaiki, Danish Saifi, Mohd Ahmad, Nehal Afridi, Mahfooz Alam, Mohd Anas, Mohd Awwal, Mohd Tahseem, Mohd Ahmad alias Raja, Mohd Noor Ismail, Mohd Tausif Ahmad, Mohd Faizan and Mohd Sameer — under multiple charges, including hurting religious sentiments, public nuisance and polluting water. Two days later, more serious charges, including extortion, were added, significantly raising the legal stakes.The grounds for extortion charges were not made clear by the police either, Alt News had earlier reported.
READ: Varanasi Iftar-on-boat arrests: Complainant’s shifting claims mirror gaps in case against 14 Muslim men
In this case, the initial charges against the accused were:
- Section 298 BNS — Defiling a place of worship with intent to insult a religion
- Section 299 BNS — Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings
- Section 196(1)(B) BNS — Promoting enmity between groups on religious grounds
- Section 270 BNS — Public nuisance
- Section 279 BNS — Fouling water of a public spring or reservoir
- Section 223(B) BNS — Disobedience of an order by a public servant
- Section 24, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
And subsequently, two more sections with serious charges were added on March 19
- Section 308(5) BNS — Extortion under threat of death or grievous hurt
- Section 67, Information Technology Act — Publishing or transmitting obscene material (linked to the viral video)
On March 20, the Varanasi court remanded all 14 accused to judicial custody pending investigation. On March 23, the additional chief judicial magistrate rejected their first bail application. Following this, on April 1, the session court rejected their second bail application as well
A month later, the Allahabad high court finally heard their bail pleas, and on May 15, 8 out of 14 accused were granted bail, and subsequently, on May 19, almost 2 months since their arrest, the remaining 6 accused were released on bail.
