Price of buffalo meat rises to Rs 500 per kilo on eve of Easter, brandishes knife at crowd for questioning act

KOTTAYAM: A shopkeeper waved a butcher knife at locals who questioned him for charging Rs 500 for buffalo meat on the eve of Easter. With this, the locals gathered in the area and made him close the shop. The incident happened at the meat shop named Youdha Meats which was running in a private market at Manarcaud street yesterday morning.

After finding that the shop was being run without permission, the panchayat authorities issued a notice to the owner to close the shop. They also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000. They also directed him not to open the shop until permission was obtained from the panchayat. Ahead of Easter, the Manarcaud panchayat had called a meeting of meat traders and directed them to sell the meat for Rs 440 per kilo.

Although other shops in and around Manarcaud started selling at this price, Youdha Meats sold it for Rs 460 on Saturday morning. After an hour, increased the price to Rs 500. When people questioned this, the shopkeeper threatened, ‘only those who want need to buy’. He also said that only those who can buy the meat for Rs 500 need to stand here and asked the others to leave the place. The locals informed the police, but it did not yield any results.

Many shopkeepers said that there is a shortage of buffalo meat due to the decrease in the arrival of cattle. In many places, only beef is being sold. The arrival of buffaloes from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has decreased. Buffaloes are being brought to Kerala from Punjab and other places.