The National Crime Record Bureau’s latest data shows that Haryana has the second highest number of complaints being lodged at police stations after Uttar Pradesh in the country.
Police officials in the state’s Mewat district, however, have been given a different priority collecting biryani samples from street vendors to check for beef.
Mewat is Haryana’s only Muslim-dominated district and the diktat from the state government’s Gau Sewa Ayog has come just ahead of Eid-ul-Azha on September 11.
District Inspector General (DIG) Bharti Arora, in charge of the special task force to check cow smuggling and slaughter, and Mewat SSP Kuldeep Singh along with Ayog chairman Bhani Ram Mangla met locals in Mewat yesterday to discuss the issue.
Mangla said the directions to the police were issued in the wake of a number of specific complaints that the biryani vendors were serving beef. After Mewat, sampling will be done in other districts as well.
Haryana has one of the most stringent cow slaughter acts in the country with a maximum jail term of 10 years.
The police have been told to immediately book vendors if they find beef. “At the same time, we have also asked the food and drug administration to ensure early reports of tests,” he said.