Now, a beef with Kerala House: Delhi police show up at state guest house after complaint over curry

A PCR call complaining about beef curry being served at Kerala House near Jantar Mantar in Delhi threw the police into a tizzy on Monday, and a team had to be sent there to avert any “untoward incident”. The call was received by the police control room at around 4.15 pm, and 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. [caption id=“attachment_2484236” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Delhi police. Representational image. Image courtesy: Reuters[/caption] The policemen took no chance and the input was immediately passed on to Parliament Street police station, from where a team was sent to Kerala House to deal with any potential violence, said the official. Reacting to the police action, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was quoted by CNN-IBN as saying that they should not have entered Kerala House and should have shown restraint. “Kerala House is not a private hotel or an institution run for making profit. It is an official guest house of the state government. The police action was really unfortunate. They should have shown some restraint before carrying out searches,” Chandy told a press meet at Kozhikode. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also strongly condemned the incident and asked whether the Delhi Police would arrest a Chief Minister from the state Bhavan if they suspected the CM “to be eating something that BJP or Modiji don’t like”.

I strongly condemn Del police raid on Kerala house. I agree with Kerala CM that Kerala House is a govt est & not a pvt hotel(1/2)

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 27, 2015

Del police had no business to enter Kerala house. It is an attack on fed structure. Del police is acting like BJP Sena(2/2)

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 27, 2015

More from India

Why physiotherapists in India will no longer be allowed to use ‘Dr’ before their names Nepal’s Sushila Karki and her India connection

Will Del Police go n arrest a CM from a state Bhavan in del if they suspect the CM to be eating something that BJP or Modiji don't like?

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 27, 2015

CPI (M) MP MB Rajesh said that the incident was ‘shocking and shameful’ and the police entering the kitchen of the premises was ’not acceptable’, CNN-IBN reported. The team remained deployed there for several hours and had conversations with the officials posted there. They also informed them about the PCR call and later returned, assuring them that “things were under control”. Former Defence Minister and senior Congress leader AK Antony said, “It is the individual’s freedom to decide what to eat and wear, and that freedom should not be infringed upon.” “We dealt with the matter with necessary alertness and took our position. The objective was to ensure that law and order is not disrupted,” said DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal. A senior police official said that the police were not concerned about whether the said meat is served at the aforementioned place, as that doesn’t constitute any criminal offence here. The role of police was to avert possible hooliganism and ensure that law and order is maintained. With inputs from PTI