Principal held for cooking ‘beef’ in school kitchen

The principal of a government school in Jharkhand’s Pakur district was arrested on Saturday on charges of hurting religious sentiments by allegedly cooking beef at the institute, police said. Her aide, Birju Hansda, who ostensibly supplied the bovine meat to her at the school, too was arrested. They were later sent to the jail after being produced before the chief judicial magistrate’s court.

RANCHI: The principal of a government school in Jharkhand’s Pakur district was arrested on Saturday on charges of hurting religious sentiments by allegedly cooking beef at the institute, police said.

Her aide, Birju Hansda, who ostensibly supplied the bovine meat to her at the school, too was arrested. They were later sent to the jail after being produced before the chief judicial magistrate’s court.

The meat was sent to a lab to ascertain whether it was cow, oxen or buffalo meat, said Pakur deputy commissioner Dilip Kumar Jha. “It was not mutton for sure,” he added.

The action was taken against the principal Rosa Hansda based on complaints lodged by students on Friday.

She was accused of cooking the meat in the school’s kitchen where mid-day meals for students are cooked.

After receiving complaints from students, the deputy commissioner had sent a team of circle officer and cops to the school at Malpahadi, about 400 kilometer from capital Ranchi, to look into the allegation. Prima facie, the team found students’ allegations to be true, the DC said.

The police, however, said that the meat was for the principal’s personal consumption.

“The meat was not meant for the students. It was for her personal consumption,” Pakur superintendent of police Shailendra Barnwal said.

Earlier this month, an FIR was lodged against Jamshedpur-based college professor Jeetrai Hansda for proposing to host a “beef party” in a Facebook post.

Jharkhand government had introduced the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Ordinance in 2005, which was later made an Act. It carries a penalty of ₹5,000 and imprisonment of up to five years or both for offenders.

THE MEAT HAS BEEN SENT TO A LAB FOR INSPECTION BUT POLICE CLAIMED THAT IT WAS ‘NOT MUTTON FOR SURE’