<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque complex, has appealed to the Muslim community to keep their shops closed on Friday in protest against pooja performed in the southern cellar of the mosque a day after a district court allowed it.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>A large number of people usually gather to offer namaz on Friday in the Gyanvapi mosque complex.</div><div><br></div><div>As a precautionary measure, security has been beefed up in the city given Friday namaz with the police force conducting flag marches in sensitive areas, said Pragya Pathak, Assistant Police Commissioner of the Dasheshmegh area.</div><div><br></div><div>Earlier in the day, prayers were performed in a cellar of Varanasi's Gyanvapi Masjid on Wednesday night after a district court ruling. This took place hours before the mosque committee approached the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on that order. According to media reports&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>