Varanasi, March 20 (IANS) The controversy over the Iftar party in the Ganga River escalated on Friday, as the BJP’s youth wing leader Rajat Jaiswal, who first flagged the ‘insulting and profane’ act and filed a police complaint seeking suitable action, has started receiving death threats.

The identity of those threatening the BJP leader is not known, but a coordinated network, sources said, can’t be ruled out as the death threats to him are routed through emails and international calls.

Rajat Jaiswal, the city president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BYJM), lodged a formal complaint with the Sigra police station on Friday. The police have launched an investigation and deployed teams to trace the international phone numbers and email IDs used to issue threats to him.

Rajat, in his complaint to the police, is also understood to have raised apprehensions about his safety, as he lives in a locality with a Muslim majority.

His counsel also told mediapersons that Rajat, along with his legal team, was subjected to threatening calls and intimidation after the former complained about the dumping of non-vegetarian leftovers into the Ganga River during an Iftar party.

Advocate Shashank Shekhar Tripathi said, ”We are also being threatened in the court. They have threatened in court in front of the media, and the complainant in the case is being continuously threatened over phone calls. This act is condemnable. All these people should be booked under the National Security Act (NSA).”

Days ago, a video of an Iftar party on the Ganga River in Varanasi sparked a major row as several Hindu outfits took strong objection to the consumption of meat and alleged discarding of leftovers in the sacred river.

A police complaint was lodged by Rajat Jaiswal, alleging that the group of men consumed and threw the remains of meat and biryani in the river.

“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. This act hurts the religious sentiments of Sanatan followers,” Jaiswal stated.

The police then launched an investigation and nabbed the 14 Muslim youth, who boarded a boat for Iftar.

The arrested men were produced in court, which, after taking into account the gravity of the crime, sent the accused to jail till April 1.

–IANS

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