Two men have reportedly been detained in Uttarakhand's Haridwar after a purported video of them wearing 'sheikh' attire (kandura) at Har Ki Pauri and bathing at Ganga ghat went viral on social media.
Police said that the video of the men roaming around Malviya Ghat and Har Ki Pauri triggered a controversy amid demands to ban the entry of non-Hindus to all Ganga ghats located in the Kumbh Mela area in Haridwar, news agency PTI reported.
In the purported video, the two men are seen walking around, taking pictures and talking to people at Har Ki Pauri. When a priest asked them to leave the premises, one of them could be heard saying in the video that they "can roam anywhere in India".
HT.com could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
The duo identified themselves as Habibullah and Habibi, residents of Dubai, when the priests in the area stopped and questioned them.
One of the priests informed the Ganga Sabha about the men. Following this, a member of the Sabha, Ujjwal Pandit, said that a search was launched after information about the duo was received. However, they had left the premises by then.
Pandit alleged that the video clearly shows a deliberate attempt to disrupt the atmosphere at Har Ki Pauri.
Hours after the incident, the two men were detained by the police. During interrogation, the two revealed their actual names, Naveen Kumar and Prince, both aged 22. The men are residents of Sidcul in Haridwar, officials said. They reportedly told the police that they were filming a video for their YouTube channel.
Kumar and Prince later apologised for hurting religious sentiments, with the police instructing them not to make such videos again. The duo were later released by the police.
Recently, the Ganga Sabha and the priest community had demanded that all the Ganga ghats in the Kumbh Mela area, including Har Ki Pauri, be declared non-Hindu restricted zones, a demand that is being seriously considered by the Uttarakhand government as well.
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