After protests over ‘spitting’ incident, Uttarakhand Police to keep vigil on restaurants and roadside eateries

DGP orders district police chiefs to ensure that CCTVs are installed at restaurants, dhabas and in places where food is sold on the roadside

A week after protests erupted in Uttarakhand over allegations that two men spit in a saucepan before selling tea to customers in Mussoorie, the Uttarakhand government on Wednesday decided to impose a fine of ₹25,000 to ₹1 lakh on those found guilty of the offence. This came a day after the Director-General of Police (DGP) issued orders to the district police to ensure “100% verification” of employees working in hotels and dhabas and other commercial institutions that serve food items.

Health Secretary R. Rajesh Kumar, in an order, stated that the owners of eateries that sell non-vegetarian food will have to specify whether they are serving ‘halal’ or ‘jhatka’ meat.

On Tuesday, DGP Abhinav Kumar had directed Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) of all 13 districts to take help from the Local Intelligence Units (LIUs) to keep vigil on food stalls operating in open spaces.

The police have also been directed to ensure that CCTVs are installed at restaurants, dhabas and in places where food is sold on the roadside.

As per the DGP’s directive, the local police must conduct random checks at eateries in coordination with the Health and Food Departments.

“To curb such illegal activities, cases will be registered under Section 274 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 81 of Uttarakhand Police Act,” the DGP said.

He added that if such incidents have adverse effect on religious, ethnic or linguistic sentiments, strict action will also be taken under Sections 196 or 299 of the BNS.

The DGP’s order came on the directions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who asked the police to take strict action in cases of spitting on food items, which he termed as “thook jihad”.

“Land or spit jihad will not be allowed in Uttarakhand. This is not acceptable and tolerable,” Mr. Dhami said adding that the Bharatiya Janata Party government will ensure the holiness of “Devbhoomi” remains intact.

The suspects in the Mussoorie spitting case were arrested from Muzaffarnagar last week and booked under Sections 196 (1)(B) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion); 274 (adulteration of food or drink intended for sale); 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class); 351 (criminal intimidation); and 352 ( intentionally insulting someone with the intent to provoke a breach of peace) of the BNS.

Published - October 16, 2024 07:34 pm IST