A court in Varanasi has remanded 14 Muslim men to 14 days of judicial custody after they were booked for organising an Iftar on a boat in the Ganga.

The order was passed on March 19 by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Amit Kumar Yadav. The accused — 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 — have been sent to Varanasi District Jail till April 1.

The incident came under scrutiny after videos showing the group breaking their fast on a boat went viral on social media.

An FIR was lodged following a complaint by Rajat Jaiswal, the city unit president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), alleging that the act hurt religious sentiments. According to the complaint, the men consumed chicken biryani on the boat and allegedly threw leftovers into the river.

Police initially invoked multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 298, 299, 196(1)(B), 270, 279 and 223(B), along with Section 24 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

Subsequently, more serious charges were added, including Section 308(5) of the BNS, after boat owners alleged that the accused had forcibly taken the vessel. The men have also been booked under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which deals with publishing or transmitting allegedly objectionable electronic content