Yogi Adityanath's slaughterhouse ban forces Lucknow's iconic Tunday Kababi to serve kebabs sans beef

A day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed police officials to prepare an action plan for closure of slaughterhouses across the state and also ordered a blanket ban on smuggling of cows, meat lovers in the City of Nawabs had to give their favourite beef kebabs a miss. The iconic Tunday Kababi in Lucknow that is famous for it’s buffalo meat kebabs had to shut down for a while on Thursday, citing lack of buffalo meat. The shop resumed operations later in the day, sans its trademark dish, according to  News 18.  Earlier in the day, Scroll had reported that the outlet in Akbari Gate — which serves buffalo meat — was shut while the other outlet in Aminabad — which also serves chicken and mutton — was open. Tunday Kababi dates back to 1905 and has been serving the iconic buffalo meat kebabs, which is a popular delicacy and a part of the Lucknawi, or Awadh cuisine. [caption id=“attachment_3348816” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Screenshot from YouTube video[/caption] The current owner of the popular deli Abu Bakr, told News18 “This is for the first time that we have to shut down our shop as we had no beef (buffalo meat). Our specialty is beef (Buffalo meat) kebabs and people come here from all over the world to taste it.” “Yesterday, our shop was closed and today we have opened it with a change. Today, we are selling kebabs made out of chicken and mutton for the first time from this shop… if this situation continues then we might be never able to sell original Tunday kebabs again.” On Wednesday, three shops selling meat and fish were set afire by unidentified persons in Hathras, triggering panic in the area, police had said. The incident comes close on the heels of some slaughterhouses being sealed in Uttar Pradesh after the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath was sworn-in. The police had said the arson incident took place in Manyawar Kanshiram Colony last night. The shop owners had said all their stock was charred in the fire. Superintendent of Police, Hathras, Dilip Kumar Srivastava, had 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 had later met the aggrieved shop owners and heard their grievances. The BJP had announced in its manifesto that it would take “stern steps to close down all illegal slaughterhouses besides banning mechanised slaughterhouses” if it comes to power. On Tuesday, a slaughterhouse, which was allegedly being run illegally, was sealed by the district authorities in Kamalgadaha locality. Officials had 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. With inputs from PTI