Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi on Tuesday clarified that police did not conduct any raid at Kerala House, the official state house in the capital, and their visit was in compliance with legal procedure.
"We know it (Kerala House) is a government institution. We know no wrong activities are conducted there but the call was such that we had to react. When it was found that beef is not being served, our officer came back, and the beat police were told to be alert," Bassi said at a press conference here.
"We are an instrumentality of law and when we get a call, we have no choice but to respond. And in this case, we acted as per the law and are entitled to act in this fashion under the Agricultural Cattle Preservation Act, 1994," Bassi said.
The police commissioner said, "The person who called the Police Control Room has been in our notice and action has been taken against him for creating mischief in the past also."
A police team went to the state house on Monday evening to verify after a caller who identified himself as Vishnu Gupta of Hindu Sena complained that beef was served in the Kerala House canteen.
He said that the PCR received a call at 4.21 p.m.
"We give utmost priority to any call concerning law and order. A call that can cause communal tension; we had no option but to react and react very fast," Bassi said.
The police chief said calls pertaining to communal violence were given special attention, and hence the Parliament Street SHO - who was at Jantar Mantar - was rushed to the Kerala House. He went inside with his beat officers, where the dining hall is located.
"The SHO took a round of the Kerala House dining hall and the kitchen and then left the place. He got to know beef is not being served," the police officer said.
As for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's criticism of Delhi Police on Tuesday that it had no business to enter Kerala House, Bassi said he had not seen the tweet.
He said officials visited the Kerala House only to make inquiries and instructed the security staff there to keep an wary eye for any mischief.
"We cautioned them against miscreants and warned them. We still have our officers deployed there as a precautionary measure in case trouble rises again," he said.
Kerala House, however, removed 'carabeef' (buffalo meat) curry from its menu after the little known group Hindu Sena lodged a police complaint. On Tuesday, however, it said it would be back on the menu.
