Karnataka: 5 held for attack on vendor amid furore over sale of halal meat

The cases have been registered in two different police stations in Shivamogga and police have started a probe in the matter.

Five people from a right wing outfit were arrested for allegedly thrashing a meat shop owner and a customer in different incidents in Karnataka’s Shivamogga amid a row over sale of halal meat in the state, said police on Friday.

The incident took place on Wednesday but a complaint was filed by the poultry shop owner and the customer on Thursday. (Representative use)

“The five accused persons went to a poultry shop, under the Hosamane police station limits, and started demanding non-halal meat. As the vendor refused, the accused got involved in heated arguments and assaulted him. They also tried to shut down the shop forcefully,” Shivamogga superintendent of police (SP) BM Lakshmi Prasad said.

News agency ANI quoted the SP as saying the arrested belonged to the right wing group Bajrang Dal. “The same group went to a hotel, under the Old Town police station limits and asked the owner to not sell halal meat anymore. A customer present on the hotel premises argued with the group and was in turn assaulted by the accused,” said the SP, adding, a case has been registered in this regard under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The incident took place on Wednesday but a complaint was filed by the poultry shop owner and the customer on Thursday. The cases have been registered in two different police stations in Shivamogga and police have started a probe in the matter. The developments come at a time when state government has refused to take a stand on the contentious issue where right-wing groups have called for a ban on all the halal meat and related products in the state.

Karnataka chief minister (CM) Basavaraj Bommai had said on Wednesday that the state government will look into halal meat issue as “serious objections” have now been raised against it. “The halal issue has just started. We have to study it. It’s a practice that is going on. Now serious objections have been raised about it. I will look into it,” Bommai had said during a press conference.

On Wednesday, Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw had also tweeted regarding the issue while tagging the CM. “Karnataka has always forged inclusive economic development and we must not allow such communal exclusion- If ITBT became communal it would destroy our global leadership. @BSBommai please resolve this growing religious divide,”Shaw had tweeted.

Shop owners have also been forced to remove halal from their signboards, instead specifically mention that they sell only jhatka meat (culled using electric shock). With elections just a year away, the BJP has been accused by the opposition of fanning communal sentiments by trying to consolidate the fragmented Hindu vote and return to power by polarising the population.

“As far as my government is concerned there are only wings of growth, there is no right or left wing. We are interested in the central idea of peace, development and security for the common man,” CM had said while responding to a specific question on right-wing organisations taking law into their own hands.