New Delhi: Police personnel in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against three people, currently in Moradabad district jail, accused in a case filed under the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act.
The three accused, identified as Qasim, Shahadat and Mesar, were arrested over the last two weeks, reported the Indian Express, while two other accused, Babu and Sharafat, who were arrested on August 12, were given bail soon after. The other three surrendered before the court.
“After obtaining orders from the district magistrate, NSA was invoked against Qasim, Shahadat and Mesar on Monday,” station officer of Baniather police station Praveen Kumar Solanki told the Indian Express. The superintendent of Moradabad district jail, Rizvi, confirmed that the order had been received.
The investigating officer in the case, sub inspector Raghunath Singh, said that the police had found nine people involved in the case that was lodged at Baniather police station on August 3 following a police raid in Kasanpur village after a tip-off about alleged cow slaughter. The people involved had escaped from the spot at the time but the police recovered samples of flesh from the area, sources told the Indian Express.
Singh said that the district veterinary officer had checked the recovered flesh and confirmed that it was of a cow. A lab report is awaited. The police also said they had recovered knives that had allegedly been used to slaughter the animal.
Local Hindu Yuva Vahini workers had held a protest on September 11 demanding that the police take strict action in the case.