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16 Arrested For Illegal Cattle Slaughter During Eid, Confirms Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma News24 –

National
By Correspondent


Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Sunday that 16 individuals were arrested for “illegally” slaughtering cattle over Eid a day earlier. He stated that cattle parts were recovered from various places in Assam, and five illegal slaughtering locations were discovered at two districts of the Barak Valley-  Gumrah, Silchar and Lakhipur, in Cachar, and Badarpur and Banga in Karimganj.

‘Those arrested’ were certainly not the people blocking roads in Hojai during the day, according to a senior Hindu leader in the community, on the pretext that miscreants were throwing pieces of potentially beef meat received some pieces of meat that night, and that, also Muslims had a roadblock demonstration that may and the police then struck them with batons, wild.

“While our Constitution guarantees the right to religious freedom, it equally upholds the rule of law and public order. This Eid-ul-Zuha, disturbing incidents of illegal cattle slaughter and recovery of cattle parts were reported from multiple locations across Assam,” Sarma said on X. Altogether 16 people – nine from Cachar and seven from Sribhumi – have been arrested so far, he said.

“Five cases of cattle parts were found – including near Cotton University (Kamrup M), Dhubri, Hojai, and Sribhumi (Bagargool),” Sarma added. The chief minister said the state government is committed to “preserving communal harmony, but not at the cost of lawlessness or cruelty”. “Please be clear that strict action will be taken against all violators – irrespective of faith or background,” he said.

While there is no outright prohibition on beef consumption in the state, the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021 prevents slaughter, sale, or consumption of cow, calf, ox, or calf in locales where Hindus, Jains and Sikhs are in the majority, and areas within a five-km radius of a temple or satra (Vaishnavite monastery).

On Sunday, thousands of followers from the Hindu community and Muslim community took to the streets in Hojai to protest separately, blocked roads and clashed with police, the officer said.

“While the Hindus blocked roads at Barpukhuri area, where suspected cattle meat pieces were found at three places on Saturday. Following that, Muslims also came out and blocked a road at Bhuyanpatty as a countermeasure,” he said.

A section of the mob at Bhuyanpatty clashed with the police personnel who resorted to “mild lathi-charge” to disperse the protesters, the officer said. “The situation is now under control, and we have deployed additional forces from central paramilitary agencies. We are closely monitoring the development,” he said. The protest in the Barpukhuri area continues with the administration continuing to talk to the protesters to resolve the blockade.

Several individuals in Hojai town reported that pieces of meat had been thrown at their premises during the night. However, the administration has not commented on the report of a piece of meat being thrown at others premises.

A Guwahati police officer told PTI, “a piece of meat was found near the Cotton University campus in the middle of the city.” “The piece of meat was wrapped in a polythene packet. We have collected the sample and sent it for testing. Till we get a report, we cannot comment on anything,” he added.

At Golakganj in Dhubri district, some meat pieces were thrown by miscreants near a temple in Nalia, another police officer said. “The incident took place last night. We collected the meat and sent it for verification. There is no untoward incident here and everything is under control,” he added.




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