KOLKATA: A milk trader was arrested on Tuesday for selling cow dung and urine in a makeshift roadside shop in Hooghly district's Dankuni, about 20 km from the West Bengal capital.
Mabud Ali was arrested by the Hooghly district police for "cheating and hurting religious sentiments".
Ali had from Monday started selling the two bovine excreta claiming the products would ward off Coronavirus infection. He said he took inspiration from the Hindu Mahasabha event on gomutra in Delhi.
At Ali's stall, one could drink urine of Indian cows at Rs 500 a litre and take the dung at Rs 500 a kilo.
Ali had placed packs of cow dung and jars of cow urine on a table by the National Highway 19 -- that links Delhi and Kolkata. The man claimed he got the idea from a gomutra (cow urine) party organised by the Hindu Mahasabha on March 14.
"Drink cow urine and ward off coronavirus," said a poster pasted to the table. "I have two cows -- one Indian cow and the other a jersey cow. I earn my living selling milk. So, after I saw the gomutra party on television, I realised I can make more profit by selling cow urine and dung. Now, I can utilise every part of cows in my business," said Ali.
However, in Ali's stall, a litre of urine and a kilo of dung of the jersey cow came at a cheaper rate -- Rs 300. "A Jersey cow is not a pure breed like Indian cow. So, its urine also is not that much in demand," he said.