Buffalo meat was today back on the menu of the canteen of Kerala House even as Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta was arrested in connection with his alleged false complaint it served "beef" that led Delhi police to 'raid' the premises sparking a political row.
The Kerala government, meanwhile, threatened legal action if the Centre does not admit that the "raid" by police at the state-run guest house in the national capital on Monday on a complaint by Gupta was a "mistake".
"Gupta has been arrested under Sections 107/151 CrPC in the evening," DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said.
The police had detained Gupta around 11 AM today and subjected him to intensive questioning in connection with his alleged false complaint that beef was being served at the Kerala house canteen. After arrest, Gupta was produced before a court, a senior official said.
Slamming the Delhi police 'raid', people associated with various Malayalee associations and Kerala-based students in Delhi staged a protest outside the Kerala House. Delhi police has maintained that no raid was conducted by it.
Maintaining that the Delhi police action has affected Centre-State relations, the Kerala Cabinet at its meeting today discussed the matter and decided to take legal course if the Centre also stuck to the explanation given by Delhi police that "they only did their duty and carried out an inspection in accordance with law".
"The raid conducted without the permission of state officials at the state-run official guest house crossed all limits of propriety, violated law and also affected Centre-State relations," Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters after the meeting in Thiruvananthapuram.
The version of the Delhi police on the raid was "not at all acceptable to the state and we are waiting for the reply to the letter sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the issue. Kerala will take legal action if the reply from Centre also corraborates the stand taken by Delhi police on the matter," Chandy said.
He asserted that cow meat, banned in Delhi, was not served at the Kerala House.
"But, buffalo meat, which is not banned, will be served from today itself at Kerala House no matter who opposes it."
He alleged that the raid was a "deliberate attempt to please somebody" and also to trigger fear in the minds of people. "Police came to Kerala House even without verifying the credentials of the complainant," Chandy said.
Hitting out at the Delhi police, Chandy said the incident has affected India's federal system. However, he said, "Kerala is ready to take a moderate view if mistake is admitted".
Buffalo meat, which was briefly out of the menu of the Kerala House canteen after the Delhi police entered its premises, was back to the delight of its patrons with several people queuing up to relish the dish.
Items made of buffalo meat were sold out at Samridhi Restaurant, run by the staff of Kerala House, within "45 minutes" of its reintroduction on the menu.
The canteen staff, who did not want to be named, said that buffalo meat fry and curry could only be served between 12.45 PM and 1.30 PM due to unexpected high demand.
"Our prepared stock was enough to serve only 150 people during the lunch hours," a staff said.
Delhi's ruling Aam Admi Party(AAP) demanded sacking of Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi for allegedly "misguiding" the nation on the Kerala House issue and justifying "criminal trespass" of its premises on rumours of beef being served there.
