Three shops selling meat and fish were allegedly set on fire by unidentified persons in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, triggering panic in the area.
The incident comes close on the heels of some slaughter houses being sealed in the state after the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath was sworn in on Sunday.
Police said the incident took place in Manyawar Kanshiram Colony on Tuesday night. The shop owners said all their stock was charred in the fire.
There have been protests in the area after the incidents, which took place two days after Yogi Adityanath took charge as Chief Minister at the head of a new BJP government in Uttar Pradesh.
The 44-year-old priest politician has campaigned aggressively against slaughterhouses and the BJP has said that a promised ban will soon come into effect. The party asserts that only illegal slaughterhouses will be shut down, rubbishing speculation that there will be a blanket ban.
Dilip Kumar Srivastava, superintendent of police, Hathras, said, “Unidentified persons set ablaze three shops selling fish and meat. An FIR has been registered against them”.
Sub-divisional magistrate (Hathras Sadar) Rakesh Gupta later met the aggrieved shop owners and heard their grievances.
On Tuesday, a slaughterhouse, which was allegedly being run illegally, was sealed by the district authorities in Kamalgadaha locality.
Officials claimed, that the slaughterhouse had been shutdown in 2012, but it continued to operate in a clandestine manner.
The Ghaziabad Police had on Tuesday sealed 10 meat shops and four slaughterhouses which were allegedly running illegally in the city.
Meanwhile
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday asked the state government officials not to chew pan, pan masala and gutka during duty hours.
The use of tobacco and pan products have been banned in hospitals, schools and colleges too.
“The chief minister visited all the floors of the annexe building and met officials posted there. After detecting betel stains on walls, he asked employees not to consume paan or paan masala during duty hours and ensure cleanliness,” Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who accompanied Yogi, said.
Adityanath also asked the staff to make the atmosphere in the building healthy and clean by avoiding the use plastic, Maurya said.
