Four persons have been arrested for allegedly slaughtering a stray cow and then organising a feast in Sheikhpura village in Behat area of Saharanpur district.

Police officials confirmed on Sunday that the accused had been arrested and sent to jail on Saturday.

Saharanpur’s superintendent of police (rural) Sagar Jain said Muntazir, Mukeem, Nafees and Ata-ur-Rehman were arrested and four other accused would be nabbed soon.

He said that villagers spotted a jute bag near a pond in Sheikhpura on August 13. The locals informed the police and the remains of a slaughtered cow were found inside the bag.

After police registered a case at Behat police station under Sections 3, 5 and 8 of Cow Slaughter Act , teams were formed to identify the persons behind it.

During examination of CCTV footage, a man was seen carrying the bag on his motorcycle. He was identified as Muntazir of the same village, according to the police.

Muntazir told the police that father of Nafees died earlier this month and he had to organise a feast after the last rites on August 9. Nafees asked Ata-Ur-Rehman and others to procure meat at a reasonable price. The accused then caught a stray cow and slaughtered it on one Buddhan’s farmland and served the cooked beef to guests.

Muntazir was asked to dispose of the slaughtered cow’s remains, which he dumped near village pond, police said.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)