Politics over beef is brewing in the heart of the national capital. A day after beef curry was forced off the menu of Kerala House, buffalo meat would be back on the dining table on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Kerala House said that the food that they serve is permitted by law. "Kerala house canteen serves both veg and non-veg dishes as permitted by law. Since cow meat is banned in Delhi we don't serve it. Buffalo meat is not banned by government," a statement said.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the incident while MPs from the state staged protest outside Kerala Bhawan in Delhi. Chandy has also asked to provide adequate protection for the functioning of the canteen.
Attacked for "overstepping" its brief, Delhi Police had on Tuesday clarified that it did not "raid" the Kerala House after complaint of beef on its menu and said it was mulling acting against the caller who lodged a "false complaint".
Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said police did not "raid" the canteen, as it is being projected, and claimed to have acted on a PCR call. He also said he is yet to receive any complaint in connection with the case. However, the complaint will be acted upon as soon as it is received.
"The moment we receive any complaint, we will act upon it. Otherwise also, we are contemplating action against the caller under Section 182 (false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person) of IPC," said Bassi.
The top city policemen said that the PCR call regarding the beef complaint was given priority because it had the potential to disrupt harmony between communities and could have had "disastrous consequences", especially because of the "past record" of the concerned caller, identified as Vishnu Gupta.
"The caller was already in police's notice because of his past record," said Bassi, adding that the officials deployed outside Kerala House to keep a watch were instructed to take preventive action in case Vishnu Gupta and his associates were caught doing any "mischief".
Reading from the PCR logs, Bassi said that Vishnu Gupta went to Kerala House and claimed to have taken note of beef present in the lunch menu there. He did not take food there and claimed to have entered into a scuffle with the staff.
Gupta, who is the National President of right-wing group Hindu Sena, said that a friend had tipped them off about beef being served at the Kerala House canteen.
"When we went there to check, we found that names of all items were written in English, except one. When we asked whether the one written in Malayalam was beef, the staff there couldn't give a convincing answer. So we reported the matter to the police," Gupta claimed.
Gupta also alleged that an activist in his group, who he claimed escorted police officials inside the canteen, was allegedly beaten up by the staff there and the police failed to take necessary action in the case.
"We received a call by a person who had come into notice for taking law in his own hands. We sent a police team to Kerala House to inquire about the matter and the staff there were also informed about the PCR call," said the top city cop.
"The staff at Kerala House were also asked to keep an eye for any potential mischief in the premises. The police were alert and officials were put on alert to avoid any untoward incident," said Bassi.
Security was beefed up and scores of police officials were deployed outside the premises of Kerala Bhawan on a "precautionary watch" to ensure that law and order is maintained.
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