10 butchers held in Ghaziabad for cattle slaughter amid ban during lockdown

Uttar Pradesh police arrested a group of 10 butchers who were allegedly slaughtering cattle at their residence in Murad Nagar town here on Saturday in violation of a ban imposed in the wake of coronavirus lockdown.

The district administration has already prohibited slaughtering of cattle under provisions of Section 144 of the CrPC, Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani told PTI.

Police got information while patrolling in the morning that some butchers were slaughtering cattle in Kureshiyan Mohalla following which the house was immediately raided and the 10 people arrested from there.

They have been identified as Rahmat Ali, Rahees, Hashmat, Zakir, Gaffar, Asif, Akeel, Wahid, Abbas and Tazeem.

The 10 accused have been arrested and sent to jail under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Epidemic Diseases Act, the officer said.

The accused said they were surreptitiously selling meat at higher prices because non-vegetarians are not getting meat due to the lockdown, police claimed.

Two large-size cleavers, an electronic weighing machine and 60 kg of meat and carcasses were recovered from the place. The recovered flesh and carcasses have been buried in a deserted field, the SSP said.