Police rescue 12 cats from being made into biryani

Twelve cats were rescued from being cooked and served in biryani plates by roadside eateries in Tirumullaivoyal, Chennai, on Friday. Police made the bizarre discovery after several complaints of cats going missing were lodged by residents from various localities such as Avadi, Pallavaram, Tirumullaivoyal, Poompozhil Nagar near Avadi and Kannikapuram, having narikurava (gypsy) settlements, according to The Times of India.

Police said residents of Balaji Nagar in Royapettah reported that their pet cats had gone missing around Pongal festival. "The day after Pongal, my cat went out. It has been un-traceable since," said M Hema, a resident.

A team of animal activists filed a complaint with the police commissioner A K Viswanathan last month after several pet cats went missing from the locality. "Most of these pets are caught by narikuravas for their meat that is sold to roadside eateries. This has been happening for at least two decades now," alleged People for Animals (PfA) co-founder Shiranee Pereira.

A team from the intelligence wing of the city police investigated the matter for two weeks. "In the past week, police officers approached narikuravas under the pretext of being prospective cat meat buyers. However, getting information from them was not that easy said the officer as the meat is not sold to everyone and strangers asking for cat meat are usually not entertained," said a senior police officer.

Finally, police were able to trace dozen cats stuffed in gunny bags and were taken to the PfA shelter in Sengundram for rehabilitation.

However, the Narikuravas responsible for abducting pet cats were let off by police with a warning.