Man held in Shahjahanpur for cooking meat on burning funeral pyre

A man has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district for allegedly cooking meat on a burning funeral pyre, police said on Monday. Two of his associates managed to flee from the spot.

The incident came to light after the father of a man named Veerpal died in Natthapur village, which falls under the Puwayan police station area. Family members and villagers carried out the last rites at a cremation ground outside the village and then returned home.

According to Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Diksha Bhavre, Veerpal went back to the cremation site on Sunday evening and found three men allegedly cooking meat in a utensil placed on his father's still-burning pyre.

Veerpal alerted the police, and a team reached the spot shortly after. One of the accused, identified as Surendra, was taken into custody, while the other two fled.

During questioning, Surendra told the police that the three had gathered at the spot to drink alcohol. On noticing the burning pyre, they decided to cook meat on it, he said.

Surendra has been sent to jail, and efforts are on to trace and arrest the other two accused, the police said.