The Madhya Pradesh police on June 15 invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against four people accused of slaughtering a cow and throwing its body parts in the premises of a temple in Ratlam district’s Jaora town.
According to the police, the body parts of the animal were found on the premises of Jaora’s old Jaagnath Mahadev Temple in the early hours of Friday, leading to communal tensions and vandalism in the town.
The police arrested two men — Salman, 24, and Shakir, 18 — for allegedly throwing the body parts on Friday morning, while two others — Shahrukh, 25, and Naushad, 40, — were accused of slaughtering the animal.
Case registered
Durgesh Amor, the Superintendent of Police (SP) for Jaora city, told The Hindu that the proceedings under the NSA were initiated against the four accused after the District Collector issued a warrant. The four men have been sent jail now, he added.
Earlier on Friday, a case was registered under Sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code; Section 469 of the Madhya Pradesh Govansh Vadh Pratishedh Adhiniyam, 2004; and Section 11D of the Madhya Bharat Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1962.
‘Habitual offender’
Mr. Amor said that Mr. Naushad is a habitual offender with 28 cases against him, most related to animal cruelty and illegal cattle trading.
“Naushad and Shahrukh had slaughtered a cow, while Shahrukh had helped him, after which they gave the body parts in a bag to Salman and Shakir who went on a bike to throw the body parts. Based on their questioning, the act appears to be intentional,” said Rakesh Khaka, Additional SP of Ratlam.
Another police officer said that Mr. Salman and Mr. Shakir were also under the influence of contraband items at the time of the act.
Communal tensions
The incident had led to serious tensions in the area, with Hindu outfits such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal protesting the incident and calling for an indefinite shut down of the town. The police had to use teargas and lathi-charge protestors after vandalism and stone pelting between the two communities.
“The two sides had come face to face so we had to take corrective measures to prevent escalation of the situation,” said Mr. Khaka, adding that while the situation is currently peaceful in the area, additional force has been deployed to avoid any incident.
The local administration had also demolished the houses of Mr. Salman and Mr. Shakir on Friday.
