Six people, including two women, have been arrested for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans during a ‘jagran’, a programme dedicated to Goddess Durga, at a village in this district, police said on Wednesday.

A 15-year-old girl has also been detained in the incident which took place on Monday in Chauri village under the Parshurampur police station area, they said.

According to a complaint lodged by village head Ashish, the ‘jagran’ was being held on Monday evening when the girl came on the stage where idols of gods and goddesses were kept and started raising anti-India slogans.

“At around 11 pm, under a planned way, the girl (daughter of Suggan Ali) climbed the stage, threw a black cloth towards the idols, and started chanting slogans ‘Islam zindabad’, ‘Pakistan zindabad’ and ‘Hindustan murdabad’. Her sister Sahiba and three brothers supported her. Her father Suggan Ali, mother Sahabuddin Nisha, along with Mohd Shami and Mohd Zakir Ali, also supported her,” Ashish alleged in his complaint.

He further said that this act hurt the sentiments of the people who had gathered for the ‘jagran’ event. “When they were asked not to indulge in such acts, they threatened the Hindu community of dire consequences and also of riot,” the village head said.

Based on the complaint, police registered a case on Tuesday against the girl, her sister Sahiba (18), three brothers including Arman (19), parents Suggan Ali (48) and Sahabuddin Nisha (42), and Mohd Shami (55) and Mohd Zakir Ali (50) under sections 153B (imputation, assertions prejudicial to national-integration) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, Basti Additional Superintendent of Police Deependra Nath Chaudhary said.

Police have detained the girl, while her two minor brothers aged 10 and 8 years were let off, he said, adding her parents, one sister, one brother and two others have been arrested.

Mr Chaudhary said that the CCTV footage of the programme is being examined, and a police team has been formed to probe the incident.

He added that a PAC unit has been deployed in the village.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that he would “have to give answers” for security lapses exposed in the deadly October 7 attacks by Hamas.

“We will examine in detail, we will get to the bottom of it,” said Netanyahu, who has faced a barrage of opposition and media criticism after Gaza militants breached Israeli border defences.

“The fault will be examined and everyone will have to give answers, including me. But all this will happen later,” the right-wing leader said in a televised address as the Israeli military prepares for a widely expected invasion of the Gaza Strip.

“As prime minister I am responsible for securing the future of the country,” he added.

Israel says 1,400 people, most of whom were civilians, died in the attacks.

Gaza’s Hamas government says that Israeli air and artillery bombing since October 7 have left more than 6,500 dead, including some 2,700 children.

With tens of thousands of Israeli troops massed at the Gaza border, Netanyahu said “we are raining down hellfire” with the air strikes and that “all Hamas terrorists are dead men walking — above ground, below ground, outside Gaza”.

“We are preparing the ground offensive,” Netanyahu said.

“I cannot say when, how or how many, nor all the elements that we are taking into account, of which most are not known to the public,” he added.

Netanyahu said Israel’s war cabinet, named after October 7, would “unanimously” decide the time of the offensive.

Israel has an army of about 165,000 and has called up 360,000 reservists, some on the Gaza border and others moved to the border with Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement has been staging daily artillery attacks.

A 20-year-old youth died in a stampede during a ‘Ravana Dahan’ ceremony here in Manesar area, police said on Wednesday.

The stampede happened around 6.30 pm on Tuesday when an unknown youth set fire to sky-shot crackers in the middle of the market where ‘Ravana Dahan’ was being held on the occasion of Dussehra, they said.

The ‘Ravana Dahan’ was organised by the Market Association in Manesar Sector 1 Market.

Bihar resident Piyush Kumar (20) who was present in the crowd fell and got injured. He was taken to the hospital but he died during treatment, police said.

ACP Manesar Surendra Singh said that the family members of Mr Kumar have been informed. The ACP said that the real cause of death would be clear after the post-mortem examination. Further action will be taken based on the family’s complaint, he said.