A mob of around 30 people, some of them claimed to be associated with the Bajrang Dal, shut down Kerala Thattukada, a small hotel beneath the Sitaphalmandi flyover for serving beef. The incident took place on the night of Friday, October 24, following which the restaurant manager approached the Osmania University (OU) police station where an FIR was registered.
Located a few meters away from the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Kerala Thattukada is run by a 24-year-old man named Albin Varghese. The restaurant is frequented by nearby residents and students. On Friday night, around 30 people, who are residents of Hyderabad’s Sitaphalmandi, barged into the restaurant, inspected the kitchen and shut it down.
Shiva, a Sitaphalmandi resident who was part of the group, while speaking to TNM said it is a majority Hindu area and even local Muslims don’t sell beef here. “We will not allow beef in our area,” he said. U Anil, a member of the Bajrang Dal, said they had to shut it down because the restaurant was duping the Hindu community by selling beef.
“I live nearby and we constantly come to the hotel for tea and drinks. We (Hindus) pray to the cow and revere her as mother. But because they cook everything in the same vessel we end up consuming beef. The owner accepted that he sells beef,” Anil said.
When asked about the certainty that it was cow meat, another member of the mob stated that the verification had to be done by a food security officer. “But the menu mentions beef and we don’t want that,” he stated.
He also stated that the students at EFLU also celebrate beef festivals and this won’t be allowed to continue. “Even in places like Delhi University, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is in power and beef won’t be tolerated,” he said.
“We are concerned that once our children get addicted to the taste,our dharma, our religion will be defiled,” said another member of the Bajrang Dal.
What the FIR states
In his complaint to the police, Albin stated that they serve “non-veg including chicken, mutton, sea food on all days and buffalo meat every Friday.”
“At around 5:50 pm, some unknown persons illegally entered the restaurant, abusing him and his staff in filthy language and threatened them not to sell beef,” the FIR noted. In Telangana, cow slaughter and the consumption of cow meat are illegal under the state's Prohibition of Cow Slaughter and Animal Preservation Act of 1977. However, the law allows for the slaughter of certain other bovine animals, such as buffaloes.
Based on Albin’s complaint, the OU police have registered an FIR under Sections 329 (4) (criminal trespass), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 352 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) along with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).