Agra, June 27 (IANS) This Taj Mahal city Saturday witnessed a near total shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to protest the government’s alleged inaction against a unit that extracted animal fat from the wastes of a slaughter house, with most markets closed and roads deserted.
The main markets of the city like Kinari Bazar, Johri Bazar, Belanganj, Raja ki Mandi were shut. Some BJP leaders were detain early in the day, police said.

On June 7, a police raid in the Etmadpur forest area revealed large-scale extraction of animal fat from dead bodies of cattle, monkeys or just any animal. Two people were arrested, including one from Meerut, police said.

Opposition parties have alleged that the animal fat being processed at the 10-acre with was being clandestinely mixed with ghee (clarified butter).

Meanwhile, BJP MP Ram Shankar Katheria Saturday concluded his two-day hunger strike to demand a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the scam. According to the BJP, ruling Bahujan Samaj Party leaders and a local legislator are involved in the racket.

The district authorities, however, clarified that animal fat was not being mixed with ghee, but the processing work was being conducted in violation of various environmental laws.

“Cases had been registered against some people and a proper magisterial enquiry is on,” District Magistrate Mritunjaya Prasad Narayan said.

Samajwadi Party leader and former minister Ramji Lal Suman Thursday courted arrest with 250 party workers after they were prevented from marching to the district headquarters to present a memorandum.