Political storm hits New Delhi after 'beef raid'

A police "raid" on Kerala House here to check if it served beef triggered a storm yesterday, with the chief ministers of Kerala, Delhi and West Bengal as well as Left leaders condemning the "intolerance" and demanding action against Delhi Police, which reports to the central government.

Although there was no response from the central government, Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi insisted that his men did not "raid" Kerala House on Monday and broke no law. He said police only wanted to prevent possible trouble after they got a complaint that beef was served in the canteen of Kerala House.

Kerala House promptly took off "carabeef" (buffalo meat) from its menu after some 20 policemen entered the premises and made inquiries and made it clear that it was not cow meat. Kerala House yesterday said beef would return to its menu from today.

After calling the police action "unwarranted and unfortunate", Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking action against Delhi Police.

"Kerala House is not a private hotel. It is the official building of the Kerala government," he added.

In Kolkata, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said: "I strongly condemn what happened at Kerala House. An unwise and unhealthy attempt to curb fundamental rights of people. Intolerance."

Separately, the AAP , which governs Delhi and do not have control over police, said it "strongly condemns the completely unjustified raid at Kerala House.