“We have not received any notification from the authorities on limiting operations during Navratra “ a KFC spokesperson said, adding that consumers were free to make their individual choices and decisions with regard to their dietary preferences.

The Shiv Sena’s crackdown on meat outlets follows the closure of hundreds of illegal abattoirs and beef and mutton shops in neighnouring Uttar Pradesh state and several other provinces ruled by BJP governments.

This suppression began last week after Modi appointed Hindu hardliner Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, following the BJP’s landslide victory in provincial elections earlier in the month.

Many of the closed abattoirs are owned by Muslims who constitute 18 per cent of the state’s population of 204 million, and have led to tens of thousands of people being rendered jobless.

It has also sparked meat shortages and disruption of profitable buffalo meat exports.

India is one of the world’s largest exporters of buffalo meat, having sold beef worth 3.22 billion Pounds last year.

The beef ban has also stoked fears of communal tensions with Muslims who dominate the meat industry countrywide and constitute 14 per cent of India’s population of 1.3 billion.