Ahmedabad: Police detain man after meat-filled bags fall off his scooter

Isanpur, Ahmedabad
Image Courtesy: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The Isanpur area of Ahmedabad remained tense on Friday after residents of Bhagwan Nagar society in the Govindwadi area found a bag with the decapitated head of an animal at about 8:30 in the morning. Another bag containing around 50 kilograms of animal meat was also found outside a jewellery showroom near the Insanpur overbridge.

Suspecting the meat to be bovine, there was anxiety among residents, and the neighbourhood remained tense. According to the Indian Express, the Isanpur Police Station took cognisance of a complaint filed by one Rohit Desai, a resident of the neighbourhood who is involved in animal husbandry, and filed a First Information Report (FIR) under section 278 of the Indian Penal Code (making atmosphere noxious to health) and sections of the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals Act and Gujarat Animal Preservation Act.

Times of India reported that Desai’s FIR alleged that the man was on a scooter and fled from the spot after dumping the carcass-filled bag, and that Desai believed the decapitated head to belong to cow progeny.

On Friday evening, Ahmedabad Police’s Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) detained 26-year-old Mohammed Faizan Sheikh, from Rakhial based on CCTV footage and technical inputs. Meanwhile, the animal remains and meat were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for examination.

Now, police say it was discovered that the meat was not that of cow progeny.

Police inspector DD Gohil told TOI, “Shaikh is a licensed seller. He used to ferry meat on his scooter from Rakhial to his shop in Vatva. On Friday morning, one of his bags dropped from his scooter. Some people saw this and began thrashing Shaikh.” He added, “In his bid to evade public fury, Shaikh hit a bumper and fell on the road,” and this was when “the head of a goat dropped on the road.”

The subject of meat consumption is extremely sensitive in Gujarat and attempts have been made to bring about varying forms and degrees of bans on the sale and consumption of non-vegetarian food.

SabrangIndia had reported previously that on November 12, 2021, Gujarat State Revenue Minister Rajendra Trivedi had said that open non-veg food stalls along the road serve as an act of “land grabbing”. Trivedi’s statement came around the time municipal corporations of Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Vadodara and Rajkot resolved to remove non-vegetarian food selling vendors from public places so as to not “hurt religious sentiments.” Following this, for days, footpath vendors of non-vegetarian food in these cities and even Ahmedabad, feared losing their well-established spots along city roads, after some municipal bodies declared that non-veg food should not be sold out in the open.

National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) Gujarat Coordinator Gurunath Sawant had at that time, told SabrangIndia that cities like Ahmedabad had declared that vendors within 100 metres of schools cannot sell non-veg food. This despite Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel assuring hawkers there would be no discriminatory action against non-veg food.

Then, in December 2021, Gujarat High Court came down heavily upon the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for taking action against street vendors selling non-vegetarian food on the streets of Ahmedabad. The AMC claimed that this was done as selling non-vegetarian food on the streets creates a health hazard as it is unhygienic and also harmful to the environment. However, 20 street vendors moved the Ahmedabad High Court challenging the non-implementation of the Street Vendors [Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending] Act, 2014 and the rules. They also challenged how the AMC seized their carts, other equipment and raw material without following due process.

After hearing the matter, LiveLaw reported that the Bench of Justice Biren Vaishnav asked, “You don’t like non-veg food, it is your lookout. How can you decide what people should eat outside? How can you stop people from eating what they want?”