Haryana cops have a new job: Sampling Biryanis

Following complaints that beef was being added to biryani, police and cow vigilantes in Mundaka village in Mewat, Haryana are keeping close vigil to avoid any such incident in view of Eid al-Adha to be celebrated next week.

Police had received a complaint on August 24 on beef being added to biryani in Mundaka village following which seven samples were collected and sent to laboratory in Hisar for testing, Mewat SP Kuldeep Singh said in Mewat.

Deputy Director of Mewat Animal Husbandry Department Narender Kumar said more samples will be collected if such complaints were received.

"We collected the samples and handed them over to the police. More samples will be collected in the coming days only if complaint pours in," said Kumar.

The police's Cow Protection Task Force has spruced up its network of informers in areas where beef consumption is suspected to be high, official sources said.

Bharti Arora, CPTF’s nodal officer and the deputy inspector general of police, said they are yet to receive the report on the seven samples taken from Mundaka.

Arora, who was appointed the nodal officer on July 5, added that checking biryanis is a part of other measures taken by the task force to curb beef consumption.

Arora held a meeting with Mewat superintendent of police Kuldeep Singh and chairperson of Haryana Gau Seva Aayog Bhani Ram Mangla at Nuh on Tuesday and directed officials to be on their toes in the wake of complaints about the usage of beef in biryani.

"There have been complaints of beef consumption and it cannot not be detected easily. Religious leaders in the area will urged to stop usage of beef," said Mangla.

Why just biryani and not any other preparation like mutton curry and kebabs? Mangla believes he has got the logic right.

"Selling beef openly is difficult," he told the Times of India.

"According to the complaints we received, the vendors are mixing a little rice with the meat to camouflage it."

Meanwhile, Haryana Congress vice-president Aftab Ahmed said the measures were a "humiliation to the minority community and the particular area".

Earlier in March, the Haryana government enforced Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gau Samvardhan Act 2015 making cow slaughter punishable with rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

Representative Image