Two persons were arrested on May 25 for allegedly slaughtering a bovine at Jarcha in Greater Noida, the police said on Sunday. The accused have been identified as Zahid and Yaqub.
SHO of Jarcha police station, Prabhash Chandra, said Zahid’s house in Noorpur was raided after receiving a tip-off about beef being stored there.
Weapons recovered
“We recovered around 20 kg of beef from the house of Zahid. Yakub was also present during the raid. Another 10 kg of meat was stored in a vessel in the same house. They had stored the meat in a refrigerator. We have also procured the chopper from the house,” said Mr. Chandra.
The police also recovered two countrymade weapons with live cartridges during the raid.
2 criminal cases
The arrested persons have been booked under two separate criminal cases — under the U.P. Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and under IPC Section 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle), and under Arms Act for illegal possession of weapons.
“The arrested were sent to jail on the same day as the IPC sections under which they were booked were non-bailable. The case is under investigation,” said Mr. Chandra. The accused have no criminal history, the police said.
“Our timely action has prevented another Bisada incident,” said a police officer.
More police personnel were deployed fearing law and order situation.
District veterinary doctor was also called to the spot. Prima facie, he confirmed the recovered meat was beef.
Forensic report
However, the meat has been sent to the forensic laboratory at College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry in Mathura for formal confirmation.
“The laboratory report can authenticate. The report is only admissible in court and will be submitted with the chargesheet. If in case, the laboratory does not find it to be beef, then certain charges in the FIR will be dropped,” said the officer.
Meanwhile, family of the accused persons alleged that they had been framed. The meat recovered from their house was stored to be consumed during Ramzan.