Mumbai: Kurla society cleaved in two over goat slaughter

Cops were posted on bandobast duty at the complex all day yesterdayThe slaughter of goats for Bakri Eid has left a divide among the residents of the HDIL Elite complex in Kurla as 100odd residents gathered to express their objection to the animal sacrifice taking place within society premises They even gave a written complaint to the Vinobha Bhave police station after which the cops stood guard in the colony to ensure there were no violent clashesResidents claimed that they were taken aback by the scale of the event in which as many as 200 goats were sacrificed in a makeshift shed in the complex They further alleged that neither the society nor the builder had been informed about itA makeshift slaughterhouse was built at a corner of the complex and was covered from all sides PicSayed Sameer AbediThere are total 11 wings in this complex with over 1000 flats in total The complex consist of 45 per cent Muslims 35 per cent Catholics and 20 per cent Hindus The drama began yesterday when around 100 residents gathered in the garden in protest To avoid any escalation of tension the local police put a bandobast in place there for the entire day The local ACP and DCP were also present there DCP Zone V Paramjit Dahiya said ldquoThere were no law and order issuesrdquoObjectionsOne of the residents Errol Pereira said ldquoThe place where the shed has been made is the only access route in case of a fire or any medical emergency Moreover the drainage system of the complex is also at the same spot and everybody would be affected if anything chokes the drain It is also learnt that the people did not have builderrsquos permission for building this shedrdquoAnother resident Swapnil Satam said ldquoOur garden area along with the basement has been in a mess since Monday night We did not have any issue if people had celebrated the festival in their own homes In fact we were even ready to have a few slaughters but bringing over 200 goats in trucks for the sacrifice in the colony premises is something that needs to be expressed beforehand Neither the society nor the builder were informedrdquoThe residents claimed that they were now considering a new rule to only celebrate national holidays like Independence Day and Republic DaylsquoWe did no wrongrsquoIqbal Khan a member of the complexrsquos association said ldquoWe used to use an open ground for slaughtering goats but this year a builder began construction there For the first time we decided to arrange for the slaughterhouse in the complex itself We are lawabiding citizens and it was only after the police gave us the permission that we started making the shed We feel that festivals of all religions should be celebrated and we have been participating in Ganpati festival as wellrdquoldquoTaking care of othersrsquo sentiments we decided to make the shed in a corner of the society and it was covered from all sides and on the top We had not only informed the builder but had also discussed this in the society meeting However a few residents who were present approached police after leaving from the meetingrdquo