Overview
- Police detained 18 protesters at Manikarnika Ghat and lodged an FIR after officers alleged participants turned violent when stopped from demonstrating without permission.
- Eight FIRs were registered over allegedly misleading posts, with notices issued to AAP MP Sanjay Singh, Independent MP Pappu Yadav, and others under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions, as forensic analysis is planned before any arrests.
- Police Commissioner Mohit Agarwal said the Kumbha Mahadev Temple at Kashi Vishwanath Dham remains intact and outside the project scope, while a Dainik Jagran fact-check identified a widely shared photo as from October 2021.
- Redevelopment work fractured a historic madhi at Manikarnika, breaking stone slabs that housed carvings, yet the carved figures are intact and now kept at Gurudham Temple under state archaeology custody.
- The Holkar Trust condemned the lack of prior notice and sought accountability and eventual restoration, the Dom Raja family backed sensitive redevelopment, and Congress leaders mounted symbolic actions as Nana Patole announced a visit.