Goa, June 9 -- On Sunday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that 16 individuals had been arrested across the state for allegedly engaging in illegal cattle slaughter during the Muslim festival of Bakri Eid. Authorities identified five unauthorized slaughter sites in the Cachar and Karimganj districts, with nine arrests in Cachar and seven in Sribhumi.

The crackdown comes under the Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021, which restricts cattle slaughter and the sale of beef in areas largely inhabited by non-beef-eating communities, or within five kilometers of temples and Vaishnavite monasteries. While beef consumption is not illegal in Assam, the Act regulates where and how cattle may be slaughtered.

Chief Minister Sarma s...