Fourteen people accused of hosting an Iftar gathering and eating chicken biryani on a boat in the Ganga river have been sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Varanasi court after their bail pleas were rejected.

Additional Civil Judge (Sr.Div.)/ACJM Amit Kumar Yadav passed the order on Thursday, remanding all the accused after dismissing their bail applications.

According to advocate Shashank Shekhar Tripathi, representing complainant Rajat Jaiswal, the accused had allegedly threatened a boatman and forcibly taken him along before organising the gathering on his boat in the river.

The case came to light after a video of the incident surfaced online on Monday, following which Jaiswal, BJP Yuva Morcha's city unit chief, filed a written complaint the same day.

Police submitted a report before the court based on the boatman’s statement and eyewitness accounts. A plea was also moved to invoke additional charges against the accused, including kidnapping.

Based on the complaint, the accused were booked and arrested on charges including defiling a place of worship and hurting religious sentiments.

"The Ganga holds deep and unshakeable faith for the 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," Jaisawal said.

"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 added.

The FIR includes charges under BNS sections 298 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult religion), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 196(1)(B) (promoting enmity between groups), 270 (public nuisance), 279 (fouling water of a public reservoir), along with provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.