Kannur: Kerala Police on Thursday arrested eight persons who had recently butchered a calf in in broad daylight and distributed its meat to public, in protest against Centre's ban on sale of cattle for slaughtering.
According to ANI, the police arrested eight youth, members of the Congress Youth Wing including former IYC Kannur Parliament constituency committee Rijil Makutty, for killing a calf.
The alleged public slaughter of the 18-month-old calf had triggered severe protest across the country and infuriated the right-wing members.
The calf was reportedly butchered in an open vehicle allegedly by Youth Congress workers who raised slogans against the Centre's decision to ban sale of cattle for slaughter.
Kerala Police had later booked some Youth Congress activists in this regard.
The brazen act was committed in front of a huge crowd in Kannur on Saturday during the 'Beef Fest' held by the Left and Congress in Kerala to protest against the Centre's ban.
The Central government has banned the sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter.
Kerala BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan, who posted the video of the the gory incident on twitter, called it "cruelty at it peak" and said no normal person can behave in this manner.
On the basis of a complaint from Yuva Morcha district General Secretary CC Ratheesh, police had registered a case against Rijil Makulti, a Youth Congress worker, and others under Section 120 A of the Kerala Police Act, police sources said.
Rijil Makulti also later told a television channel, "We don't regret our act. This was done as part of our protest."
The offence deals with slaughtering any animal in a way that causes annoyance or inconvenience to the public and is punishable with imprisonment up to one year or a fine of up to five thousand rupees or with both.
