Kerala MPs Protest Outside Kerala House in Delhi

A caller, claiming to be from a fringe right-wing group, told the police that beef was being served at Kerala House.

The PCR got a call complaining about beef curry being served at Kerala House near Jantar Mantar. (Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

Members of Parliament (MPs) from Kerala have staged a protest outside Kerala House in Delhi after activists entered the premises without permission on Monday.

The Kerala government dismissed claims that beef curry was served at Kerala Bhavan following a row kicked up in the national capital.

The Resident Commissioner of Kerala House has lodged a police complaint following the episode.

The complaint mentions a call that was made to the police about beef on the menu.

Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson categorically denied that cow meat was served at Kerala Bhavan and said they will wait for “police action”.

“I totally deny that cow meat was served here (canteen of Kerala House). Only buffalo meat is served,” Thomson said.

<p>Kerala Bhawan has temporarily taken buffalo meat off its menu. I was told that some persons gate-crashed into Kerala House yesterday (on Tuesday), the police had also entered. The resident commissioner has made a complaint to the DCP over their (gate- crashers’) entry. We will wait for police action now.</p>

<p><b> Jiji Thomson, Kerala Chief Secretary</b></p>

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condemned the police action, calling it a raid and took to twitter to express dissent.

Delhi Police Commissioner, BS Bassi, has defended the police action, calling it “precautionary measure.”

<p>It was not a raid. In fact, it was a preventive measure as per our standard operating procedures. We had alerted their private security staff as soon as we got a call to prevent any protest. We also deployed possible security measures there and alerted the staff working there.</p>

<p><b>BS Bassi, Delhi Police Commissioner </b></p>

A call to the police control room (PCR) complaining about beef curry being served at Kerala House near Jantar Mantar threw police into a tizzy on Monday. A team had to be sent there to avert any “untoward incident”.

The call was received by the PCR at around 4.15 pm, the caller, claiming to be from a fringe right-wing group, told the police that beef was being served at Kerala House, said a senior official.

The policemen from Parliament Street police station reached Kerala House to deal with any potential violence, said the official.

<p>We dealt with the matter with necessary alertness and took our position. The objective was to ensure that law and order is not disrupted. </p>

<p><b>Jatin Narwal, DCP (New Delhi)</b></p>

A senior police official said that the police was not concerned about whether the said meat is served at Kerala Bhavan, as that doesn’t constitute any criminal offence.

(With inputs from PTI.)