Located inside the Sohailwa Wildlife Division, just 250 m from the India-Nepal border, the Sonpathri Mai Sidhinath Ashram is popular across the region – with people of all faiths. Now, the unassuming ashram is at the centre of a row involving an iftar, similar to the Varanasi incident.

Eight people stand accused of eating non-veg food and disposing of leftovers in a stream whose water is used at the ashram, on March 17, during Ramzan. Released on bail since, none of them is staying at home, for fear of further police action.

The eight include five people from Shravasti, located nearly 60 km from the ashram, and three from Bahraich, around 90 km away. All in their 20s, barring one, they are facing two separate cases, one filed by the ashram head and the other for allegedly violating the forest conservation law. Police claim all the accused know or are related to each other.

The families deny this, with some also questioning police claims of their presence at the iftar, particularly given the distance of their homes from the location.

The arrests in Varanasi coincided with the Shravasti incident. In Varanasi, 14 stand accused of breaking their Ramzan fast with non-veg food on a boat in the Ganga, and disposing of leftovers in the river. All 14 remain in jail.

Among those arrested from Shravasti were Jamal Ahmed and his sons Imran (26) and Irfan (22), of village Mehroom Murthiya. Only Jamal’s wife Noorul Nisha and daughter Safia, 20, and Imran’s wife Sabeena, 24, now remain at home, with the children.

Jamal, 57, the owner of an electrical equipment shop, is president of the local traders’ association. While Imran assists his father in the family business, Irfan, who is unmarried, works as an electrician.

Cradling an infant, Sabeena says: “The men wanted to hold iftar in an open area, and chose the Sohailwa spot as they had visited it earlier. They carried cooked food, fruits and water.” The mistake was that they took photographs and made videos, and posted the same, she adds.

Safia claims Jamal was not part of the group, and that the men collected all the leftovers and brought the same back. “Not even a bottle cap was left behind.”

Pointing out that Muslims also hold Sonpathri Ashram in high esteem, she adds: “If there is no video evidence of any wrongdoing, why is action being taken against our men?… Has the government imposed restrictions on gatherings?”

Safia says police came the day after the iftar, broke open the main door to the house, and forcibly took the men away, “misbehaving” with them.

The Shravasti police deny the allegations.

A native of Ravi Das Nagar in Bahraich, Sajru Nisha, 56, whose son Shamshad Ali was among those arrested, also says the 28-year-old was not present at the iftar. One of Nishad’s sons, Akram Ali, is incidentally a local corporator.

Shahira, 56, of Risiya area in Bahraich, says her son Sheru Ahmed, a vegetable vendor, spent March 17 at home. “Why would anyone travel nearly 70 km to Shravasti just for an iftar?” Shahira adds.

The third accused held from Bahraich, Shakir (29), who works as a driver, left town along with his wife and three children after being released on bail. His employer Ramu Lal says: “Shakir told me police had falsely implicated him, that he was here in Bahraich on March 17, and didn’t know any of the others arrested.”

Police say they rounded up the accused as soon as they got to know of the alleged incident as they feared a law and order situation. The first four arrests, on March 20, were on charges of breach of peace. After four more were arrested, on March 24, six in all were charged under the Indian Forest Act as well.

Investigating Officer and Senior Sub-Inspector Sahab Rao says they have three videos of the alleged incident, shared by Harisharan Nand Maharaj, the head of the Sonpathri ashram and a complainant. “Based on the video footage and accused statements, we have identified around 20 people,” he says.

“Efforts are underway to trace the remaining accused,” Satish Kumar Sharma, Circle Officer, Bahraich, adds.

This has also spread fear among families that more members may be “targeted”.

The ashram

The Sonpathri Ashram lies 6 km inside from where the Sohailwa Wildlife Division limits begin. Beyond Takia village, the landscape gives way to dense forest, home to tigers, leopards and deer, and the last 2 km have to be covered by foot.

Spread over nearly 2 acres, the ashram gets around 200 visitors daily, with footfall crossing 500 on festivals. Given the proximity to the border, Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel are posted at frequent intervals and check the visitors and what they are carrying. The area where the iftar was held often sees visitors.

Asked about the arrests, SSB officials refused to comment, only saying they were aware of the case.

Head priest Harisharan Nand Maharaj, one of eight priests who live on the ashram premises, underlines that they get visitors from across religions. About the March 17 incident, he says there was a rush that day, and that some visitors complained about a group of people “engaging in objectionable” activities near the ashram.

“The following day, a disciple showed me a video of the same, and I approached police,” he says, adding that the stream’s water is used to wash temple idols as well as for cooking and drinking.

There is very little water though in the stream these days.

In his complaint, Harisharan named three persons and claimed around 20 unidentified ones had participated in the iftar, with the case registered on charges of promoting enmity between groups.

A second case was registered on the complaint of Radhey Shyam Yadav, a Deputy Ranger with the Sohailwa Wildlife Division, under the Indian Forest Act. Yadav alleged that around 20 unidentified people had entered the protected forest area without permission, lit a fire and cooked food.