Right wing outfit shuts down 35 meat shops in Gurgaon citing Navratri

Members of the rightwing outfit claimed they had issued a fresh reminder to the district administration and MCG to prevent sale of meat during Navratri, but the same was ignored.

After threatening to close meat shops if authorities failed to act, the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Kranti Dal (ABHKD), a rightwing outfit, shut down around 35 meat shops at the CRPF chowk, Sheetla Mata Road and Gurgaon bus stand on Monday.

The rightwing outfit shut down around 35 meat shops at the CRPF chowk, Sheetla Mata Road and Gurgaon bus stand on Monday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

However, authorities continued to turn a blind eye to the issue.

In Noida, the leader of Gau Rakshak Dal was arrested by Noida police after the organization was illegally closing down shops in the city for a week.

Gurgaon deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said that the district administration will investigate the matter.

“It is illegal to forcibly close meat shops. We will act once a complaint is received. We have deployed police at prominent markets so that (meat) shop owners dont don’t feel threatened,” Singh said.

Members of the outfit claimed they had issued a fresh reminder to the district administration and Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to prevent sale of meat during Navratri, on Thursday, but the same was ignored.

“In our meeting with the district administration and MCG officials two weeks ago, we had requested them to shut down meat shops during Navratri. Since they continued to ignore our requests, we asked meat shop owners to down shutters at various parts of the city today (Monday). We will continue to carry out this drive,” Rajeev Mittal, spokesperson of ABHKD, said.

“I shut shop today after some ABHKD members came by. However, it (the shutdown) will make little difference as the sale of meat slackens during Navratri. I would have preferred to continue selling meat, but I don’t want to be targeted,” Raju, a meat shop owner at Sheetla Mata Road, said.

Read I KFC, 300 meat shops forced to close by ‘Shiv Sainiks’ in Gurgaon for Navratri

Members of the rightwing outfit also asked meat shop owners at Sector 13 to close their shops, on Thursday.

On Friday, over 500 meats shops and stalls were forced to close at Surat Nagar, Ashok Vihar, sectors 5, 9, 14, Pataudi Chowk, Jacobpura, Sadar Bazaar, Khandsa, Gurgaon bus stand, DLF Phase1 and Sohna by a group claiming to be representatives of Shiv Sena in Gurgaon. However, an official Sena spokesperson in Mumbai claimed the group isn’t affiliated to the party.

“No complaints have been received so far in connection with the incident. We will take appropriate action after gathering details,” the spokesperson of Gurgaon police said.