Satpuli town of the Pauri Garwal district of Uttarakhand witnessed communal tensions and protests by local residents after a man from the Muslim community was caught indulged in unnatural sex with a calf (young cow).

According to local reports, 23-year-old Shah Alam, who has a local carpentry shop and lives in the same area with his parents and three siblings in a rented house, was caught in the indecent act by the owner of a local gaushala (cow shelter) Baleshwar Chaudhari at around 9.30 in the morning.

Baleshwar caught Shah Alam and raised an alarm, causing locals to assemble there. The locals then proceeded to beat up Shah Alam and also targeted a couple of shops, including the carpentry shop of Alam. Protesters also reportedly called for a bandh in the market.

Police soon arrived at the market and Shah Alam was arrested, but locals insisted that police should be proactive and kick out such elements from the area. Shah Alam reportedly has been living in the area for around 8 years.

The incident has left the locality tense due to communal nature of the crime. “We have deployed additional police force in the town to keep the situation remains under control in the town,” Pauri Superintendent of Police Jagatram Joshi was quoted as saying.

The accused Shah Alam has been booked under Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalises unnatural sex, and will be produced at a local court in Lansdowne later today.

This is the second incident of communal tensions in Satpuli town in around a month. Last month a Muslim vendor had made objectionable comments about Hindus and Kedarnath on Facebook, which also resulted in communal tensions and similar protests by local residents in the area.