Court Commissioner's Team Reaches Gyanvapi Mosque For Its Survey, Police Beef Up Security

Varanasi : Amid the Gyanvapi mosque management committee's call to oppose a court's decision to get the religious place and the Shringar Gauri premise videographed and surveyed, a team led by the court commissioner reached here Friday to carry out the judicial direction.

Before the arrival of the court commissioner and his team here, a large crowd of devotees had gathered for Friday prayers.

Some youths also raised 'Har Har Mahadev' slogan evoking a reaction from some Muslim youths who too raised some religious slogans but the police promptly drove them away.

In the Shringar Gauri worship case, the court of Varanasi s Civil Judge (Senior Division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar had on April 26 ordered videography of the Shringar Gauri temple in the Kashi VishwanathGyanvapi mosque complex and other places after Eid and before May 10.

To carry out its order, the court had appointed advocate Ajay Kumar as its commissioner.

But the Gyanvapi mosque's management committee had announced to oppose the court order for the videography and survey inside the mosque's premises, scheduled to be held on May 6 and 7.

"No one will be allowed to enter the mosque," S M Yasin, joint secretary of Anjuman Intezamiya Masajid, had said last week.

Around the time the survey was to start on Friday, a woman started offering Namaz at gate number four of Vishwanath Temple, prompting police to whisk her to the police station.

Police later said the woman was identified as Ayesha, a resident of Jaitpura, and is said to be mentally disturbed.