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New Delhi, Jun 8: Places of worship on Monday across the country reopened after staying shut since March due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

Scores of temples, mosques and gurudwaras were seen opening up keeping in view the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by Union Home Ministry to prevent coronavirus spread.

As per Ministry of Health guidelines, touching of idols/holy books, choir/singing groups, etc are not allowed.

In Delhi, people gathered at Gauri Shankar Temple in Chandni Chowk to offer prayers. With national capital seeing a rise in coronavirus cases, the devotees were seen wearing masks and taking precautions. People were also seen offering prayers at Kalka Ji Temple.

Several people arrived at Sri Bangla Sahib Gurudwara to offer prayers. Devotees were made to pass through the disinfectant tunnel before entering the Gurdwara in order to prevent the virus.

In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at Gorakhnath Temple after state government allowed re-opening of places of worship from today.

Devotees were seen offering prayers at Eidgah Mosque in Lucknow.

Devotees also offered prayers at Shree Dodda Ganapathi Temple in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru.

Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya also reopened on Monday.

Prayers were offered at Durga Mata Mandir near Jagraon Bridge in Ludhiana, as the government has allowed reopening of places of worship.

Although religious places have opened in most of the states, however, there are some states which are yet to do so.

Preparations related to Yatra of Char Dhams including Badrinath have been completed, however, local representative of the areas from where the routes of this yatra pass have requested the government to not allow the commencement of the Yatra.

Based on the assessment of the situation, the Odisha Government ordered that all religious places/places of worship for the public will continue to remain closed till June 30.

Earlier, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that religious places and places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services along with shopping malls will be permitted to open from June 8.

However, these facilities will not be able to resume operations inside containment zones designated by authorities in states.

Lucknow, Mar 3: Two days after wife of Kafeel Khan, who is booked under the National Security Act, alleged that her husband faced a threat to life in Mathura jail, where he is lodged for anti-CAA protests, the District Magistrate claimed that Khan was 'fully secure' in the jail.

"Kafeel Khan, who has been booked under the National Security Act (NSA) for alleged inflammatory statements during an anti-CAA protest in Aligarh, is absolutely fine and fully secure in Mathura jail. Allegations of 'inhuman' treatment being meted out to him are baseless," Mathura District Magistrate Sarvagya Ram Mishra said on Monday.

Also Read: Kafeel Khan’s wife fears threat to his life
Senior Superintendent of Mathura district prison, Shailendra Maitrey, said that Khan's condition is being monitored every half an hour and the report is written in the gate book. He said, his ECG is normal and blood pressure was also in control.

He said that Khan was demanding checkup from a cardiologist.

"Since no specialist is available in the government sector here, his request could not be complied with. However, the jail authorities have sent his request to chief medical officer and have asked him to make a specialist available," the jail official said.

He said Khan is in barrack, which is fully ventilated, and he shares it with 50-60 'good behaviour' prisoners.

It may be recalled that in a letter to the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), and Director General (Jail), Shabista Khan, wife of the jailed doctor, had alleged that her husband was being treated inhumanely in the jail.

She feared that an attempt could be made on her husband's life inside the jail. She had demanded adequate security for him and had urged that her husband should be kept away from active criminals lodged in the jail.

Khan was booked by Aligarh police on December 13 for delivering a provocative speech in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) during an anti-CAA protest in the campus, a day earlier, and was arrested from Mumbai airport on January 29 by Uttar Pradesh special task force.

The Aligarh police had slapped the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against Khan on February 13 night, hours before he was expected to walk free from the Mathura jail, after he was granted bail by Aligarh's chief judicial magistrate on February 10.

New Delhi, Jan 8: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh has filed a complaint over the violence that took place at the varsity campus on Sunday.

"I am filing this complaint for the incident in which a mob conspired and acted with common intention to assault, intimidate and attempt to murder me, and request you to register an FIR and apprehend culprits at the earliest," the complaint read.

She said that on January 5, in the afternoon, she received information from students in the campus that some students affiliated to ABVP along with other unidentified men and women had gathered with weapons like rods, sledgehammers and lathis near Ganga Bus Stop.

"I along with Nikhil Mathew (MA Labour Studies) who was also present there, were surrounded by a group of persons of that mob most of whom were wearing masks. The mob of 20-30 persons dragged me behind a car standing near the 24*7 and surrounded me and despite my pleading did not let me go and attacked me with rods while I had fallen down. I remember that one of the people was of medium height wearing a brownish-red sweatshirt with UCLA written on it. I saw his face as he was facing me and did not have a mask on and can identify him if I see him," Ghosh wrote in her complaint.

"I was attacked by the above-mentioned persons collectively and was hit on the head multiple times with iron rods. I fell to the ground and my head started bleeding, and some of them kicked me and hit me with the rod on my hand and rest of the body including my head, chest and back."

"I am attaching with this complaint a copy of the MLC which details my injuries. Nikhil Mathew tried to save me but was also hit with an iron hammer and other weapons on his head and arms. The intention of the group of men and their acts was definitely to murder me and other persons associated with me," she said.