Amid tension over recovery of a cattle carcass from a residential area in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district, local BJP MLA Rajkumar Thukral was on 11 January seen hurling abuses at Muslims, and asking police to frame them under 'false cases'.
A video of Thukral's communal outburst has gone viral on social media.
Thukral had entered into a heated argument with Congress functionary Pandit Anil Sharma.
The incident occurred after a reported recovery of carcasses, allegedly of cattle, from a residential colony in the area.
Police rushed to the site as a massive crowd had assembled in the area.
"It seems that it was done with the intent to disturb the law and order situation in the city which has witnessed communal violence in 2011,” SSP DS Kunwar said.
The carcasses have been sent for a post-mortem and further examination and an FIR has been lodged under section 3/8 of Cow Slaughter Act, sections 153-A (promoting disharmony) and 295 (defilement of a place of worship or an object held sacred) of the IPC.
DIG Kumaon, Nilesh Anand Bharne appealed to the people not to spread any rumour and promised to arrest the accused at the earliest.
"The model code of conduct and section 144 is in place in the state and nobody will be allowed to disturb peace and harmony," Bharne added.
(With inputs from The Times of India)
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