VARANASI: Fragments of “idols” found by ASI in a mound of debris within the Gyanvapi complex may have been dumped there by sculptors who once plied their trade from rented shops in a building there before it was demolished, mosque custodian Anjuman Intizamia Masajid (AIM) said on Friday.
The Muslim side’s contention invited an immediate rejoinder from the Hindu plaintiffs’ lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who said there was no basis for such an argument. He said ASI’s scientific survey report on Gyanvapi specifies “the age, era, diameter and all relevant details of each idol and artefacts recovered from the debris inside the compound”.
The wrangling came a day after both sides were given a copy each of ASI’s report, which purportedly states that a Hindu shrine existed at the site of the Gyanvapi mosque before it was constructed in the 17th century.
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