Two members of a right-wing Hindu outfit, Hindu Sena, were arrested on Sunday, 7 April, after they forcefully shut over 250 meat shops and chicken outlets in Gurugram on the first day of Navratri festival, reported PTI. The two have been identified as Rakesh and Pramod.
Speaking to the news agency, a police officer said that in a CCTV footage, the duo could be seen pulling down shutters of meat shops and threatening their owners.
Earlier, Ritu Raj, the chief of Gurugram unit of the Hindu Sena, had said members marched to different locations demanding the closure of meat shops.
He said they visited sectors 4,5,7,9, 10, 21, 22, Palam Vihar, Badshahpur, Om Vihar, Surat Nagar, Sadar Bazar, Anaj Mandi Dhanwapur, Dundahera, Molaheda, Sikandarpur and many other places.
He claimed that about half of the shops were already closed as the exercise has been taking place since 2014.
Speaking to TheTimes of India, Munis-ul Rehman, a meat shop owner, said, “I know Navratri occurs twice a year. We have always been shutting our shops during Dussehra but we were never asked to close shops during this time of the year. This is the first time it has happened.”
The shop owners told TOI that they are likely to incur losses upto Rs 10,000 for the days that their shops will remain closed.
Gurugram police hasn’t commented on the matter yet.
(With inputs from The Times of India)
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