Beef row: Activists seek Sadhvi’s arrest

Activists demanded on Thursday the arrest of Sadhvi Kamal ‘Didi’, a cow vigilante from the Rashtriya Mahila Gauraksha Dal, who allegedly led a mob that attacked a hotel and laid siege to it for six hours on March 19 over rumours of serving beef.

The management of Hotel Hayat Rabbani, which was attacked, lodged a first information report (FIR) on Wednesday.

“This entire episode has shown us a collusion between the police and cow vigilante groups. Moreover, all the sections applied in the FIR are bailable, which also raise questions about the neutrality of the investigation,” said Kavita Srivastava of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

In the FIR, the police have used sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 451 (trespass) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code).

The activists pointed fingers at the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC), saying the civic body sealed the hotel illegally.

“Contrary to norms, no showcause notice was issued to the hotel before it was sealed. We raised this issue with the CEO of the JMC,” said Srivastava.

“The CEO told us that he had no idea that JMC had locked the premises of a hotel as the deputy commissioner of JMC is competent to do it. He had asked for the file. He said he will see if due process was followed.”

The hotel has remained closed since it was sealed on March 19 by the civic body.

“The Jaipur Municipal Corporation has communicated to us that a committee will be doing investigation to decide on the opening of the seal, but so far no investigation has started,” hotel owner Naeem Rabbani told Hindustan Times.

Police said action will be taken against the accused after investigation.

“An FIR has been lodged by the hotel owner and investigation is on. We have sent the meat sample from the hotel for test at the forensic science laboratory,” said deputy commissioner of police (west) Ashok Gupta.