Four persons were arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti district on Friday for allegedly throwing leftover meat in a stream near a temple in an ashram, the police said.

The incident took place near the Sonpathri Ashram temple in the Sirsia area.

Circle Officer Satish Kumar Sharma said that a complaint had been filed on Thursday by Hari Sharnanand, who is the head of the ashram. The complainant alleged that an iftar party had been organised near the freshwater stream next to the temple on Tuesday.

Meat was served during the iftar, the circle officer said. After the party, the organisers allegedly threw the leftover food into the stream, from which the ashram obtains water for cooking, drinking and washing idols, Sharma said.

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The complainant claimed that when members of the ashram objected, the organisers of the iftar event responded with threats.

A first information report was registered at the Sirsia police station based on the complaint under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to promoting enmity and disharmony, PTI reported.

The four men accused in the case – Jamal Ahmad, Irfan Ahmad, Imran Ahmad and Zaheer Khan – were arrested on Friday to maintain law and order, the news agency quoted Sharma as saying.

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All four are residents of the Mahru Murtiha village under the Hardattnagar Girant police station limits, he added.

Their arrest came days after the arrest of 14 Muslims in Varanasi for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus after they organised an iftar party on a boat in the river Ganga and ate chicken biryani.

They were arrested after a video showing them holding the party on the boat on March 16 was widely shared on social media.

A police complaint was filed by Rajat Jaiswal, the chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing in the city, who alleged that the incident had hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus. In his complaint, Jaiswal alleged that the persons had thrown meat leftovers into the river Ganga.