A Complaint, a Police Visit, and Buffalo Meat Off Menu in Kerala House in Delhi

New Delhi: A complaint about "beef" being served at the Kerala House in Delhi had the building swarming with policemen within moments on Monday evening. After the commotion, buffalo meat, which is not illegal, has been taken off the menu.

"The Delhi Police should have shown restraint and consulted officials concerned before checking the premises for beef dishes," Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who belongs to the Congress, said today. An angry Kerala government has complained to the police about violation of its rights; the guest house is in the state's control.

Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, seized the chance to target the Delhi police, which reports not to his government but to the Centre.

Del police had no business to enter Kerala house. It is an attack on fed structure. Del police is acting like BJP Sena(2/2)

- Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 27, 2015

Three men who visited the Kerala House canteen yesterday noticed "beef fry" on a handwritten menu on the whiteboard. It was the only dish scribbled in Malayalam, and they wasted no time in calling the police.

The men are activists of the Hindu Sena, a fringe group that wants cow slaughter banned across the country.

The police, responding with alacrity, sent a team of around 20 to Kerala House. They say they wanted to prevent any "trouble" as the Hindu Sena was involved in an ink attack last week on Jammu and Kashmir lawmaker Engineer Rashid, over his beef party in Srinagar.

"We dealt with the matter with necessary alertness and took our position. The objective was to ensure that law and order is not disrupted," said Jatin Narwal, a senior police officer.

The staff told the police that only buffalo meat is served even though the term "beef" was used.

"We have been serving only buffalo meat for so many years. Cow meat is not served anywhere here. The canteen staff will be careful in the next few days," Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson told NDTV.

The incident has left its mark on the menu.

Today, there is chicken and fish at the Kerala House but no buffalo meat.

Beef is at the centre of a raging debate across the nation after incidents like the mob-killing of a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri over rumours that he had eaten beef and the killing of two other men over allegations of cow smuggling.