The Navi Mumbai police on Saturday booked an owner of a meat shop and two others for allegedly painting a religious name on a goat.
The police said the goats were later seized and the shop was sealed by the municipal corporation. According to the police officials, there were 22 goats at the shop and they were to be slaughtered.
However, after an activist noticed that a religious name was written on one of the goats, he initially confronted the meat shop owner and later lodged a complaint with the police.
An officer said, “We registered a case against three persons for hurting religious sentiments. They were served notices and were allowed to go.”
As the complainant further alleged that the three accused ill-treated the goats, relevant sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act were also imposed in the FIR.
“We later wrote to NMMC after which they took action against the meat shop. We took the goats from their custody and the shop was sealed by the municipal corporation,” an officer added.