In a first of its kind case, a 42-year-old man from Bandra, Damien Dolkher (name changed) has been apprehended ‘red-handed’ by the Maharashtra Police while he was surfing for beef products at his work place. This is the first arrest made by the police after the state passed the law to ban beef.

The police have seized Dolkher’s hard disk, laptop and desktop, which was full of pictures of beef dishes and recipes, songs that talked about tasty beef dishes and even documentaries about several beef preparations.

Following his arrest, the police also searched his home and recovered 7.3 kg of beef from his refrigerator, 25 posters of beef dishes, and six t-shirts with pictures of beef burgers and beefsteak printed on them. They also seized a portion of Chilli beef and pepper stir-fry in his kitchen.

“The new law clearly states that even if a person is searching for beef online, he can be charged,” the Bandra police station SHO said. He also revealed that in 2009 Dholker was convicted for the same offence while working in Gujarat in 2009, where even chicken is illegal. If convicted again, he could be jailed for up to 10 years.