The police in West Bengal’s Hooghly district have arrested a person for selling cow dung and cow urine, claiming that consuming these would help people get protection against coronavirus disease Covid-19.
The person, Sheikh Mamud, a man in his 50s, was booked under sections 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. All the sections are non-bailable.
Following the police action, Mamud argued that he was inspired by Hindu Mahasabha’s event in New Delhi last week where supporters of the organisation consumed cow urine in public.
“The person has been arrested and we are investigating his motive,” said Humayun Kabir, commissioner of Chandannagar police commissionerate.
Mamud was produced before a court in Hooghly on Tuesday which remanded him to four-day judicial custody.
He was selling urine of Indian cow at Rs 500 per kg and that of Jersey cow at Rs 400 per kg at a roadside stall at Dankuni in Hooghly district, about 25 kilometres from Kolkata.
In a separate development, an FIR has been registered at Jorabagan police station on Tuesday against unknown persons for feeding cow urine to people. The case was registered in connection with a ‘gaumutra (cow urine) party’ organised by a local BJP leader, Narayan Chatterjee, who claimed on Monday that cow urine provided “100 per cent protection against novel coronavirus”.
A ‘home guard’ of the Kolkata Police, who lodged the complaint, said he was misled by the organisers, who passed of cow urine as “charanamrita” or ambrosia.
The police have registered the case under sections 269 (unlawfully or negligently spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), 278 (making the atmosphere noxious to health) and 114 (abettor present when crime is committed) of the Indian Penal Code and started investigation.
Meanwhile, BJP’s state unit president Dilip Ghosh said that distributing cow urine was no crime. “Many of those who are opposing cow urine have consumed it secretly. I myself have consumed cow urine many times and will keep consuming it for its health benefits,” Ghosh, a Lok Sabha MP from Midnapore, said on Tuesday.
