Hours after a piece of meat was found from a temple in the communally sensitive Old City area of Hyderabad, police have released CCTV footage of a cat and a dog carrying meat near the temple. The Hyderabad police have asked citizens to not spread rumours and help maintain communal harmony after the incident sparked protests and political reactions.
The meat was found in the shrine of the deity Shiva, at the Sankata Vimochana Hanuman Temple near Madina Hotel in Old City’s Natraj Nagar on February 12. Local residents complained to the police, with the suspicion that cow meat was placed inside the temple to hurt Hindu sentiments.
Police promptly began an investigation with the supervision of senior police officers, as such an incident had the potential to stoke communal tensions in the Old City area, which has a predominantly Muslim population.
They found CCTV footage from the north-facing camera of the temple, which “showed a cat carrying a piece of meat in its mouth and entering the temple premises” on February 12, around 6.37 am. Another CCTV video released by the police had shown a dog carrying something in its mouth near the temple around 1 am on February 12.
“The CCTV footage conclusively proved that the cat was responsible for placing the meat behind the Shiva Lingam. It showed a cat carrying meat into the temple around 6.30 am on February 12. The temple has grills through which the cat could enter and place the meat inside. The meat was found to be mutton,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of South West Zone, Hyderabad, G Chandra Mohan said.
Even after the police said that it was a cat that inadvertently brought the meat inside the temple with no human intervention, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Goshamahal in Old City, Raja Singh issued a statement refuting the explanation. Raja Singh, who is notorious for his hate speeches, called it a “deliberate act of provocation” to disrupt peace in the Old City. He claimed that the police were trying to shield perpetrators, and that the incident was part of a larger conspiracy against Hindu places of worship.
A few local residents were also seen telling the media that they refused to believe that a dog or cat left the meat, insisting that a human was involved, demanding justice, and warning that the region’s peace could be disturbed otherwise.