Police in Agra swung into action Saturday after photos of a “beef party” at the Kendriya Hindi Sansthan (KHS) surfaced on the social media, triggering protests by workers of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and prompting authorities to launch an inquiry into the matter.

The photos purportedly show three foreign national students chopping meat in their hostel room, which went viral on social media as ‘beef’. A few pictures also show ‘beef’ written on the room’s wall in the background.

While a police team led by Agra’s city magistrate Rekha S Chauhan and Assistant Superintendent of Police Anurag Vats searched the hostel rooms Friday night, workers of VHP protested outside the institute Saturday morning demanding action into the matter.

The institute’s registrar, Dr Chandra Kant Tripathi, had then assured the protesters that an inquiry will be conducted.

Speaking to The Sunday Express, Tripathi said an eight-member high-level committee comprising administrative officials formed to probe into the matter did not find any evidence to prove the allegations.

“The committee members were present during the police search Friday night. No evidence related to the chopping of meat was found in any of the hostel rooms. Most of the students were away for the weekend. Those present denied having knowledge about any such thing,” the registrar said.

The ASP, too, said police did not find anything suspicious during the search Friday night.

The registrar informed that the institute, also known as Central Institute of Hindi under the Union HRD Ministry, has over 500 students of which around 70 are foreign nationals.

Tripathi said there are four photographs that show students chopping meat.

“Students seen in the photographs belong to countries like Turkey, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Bulgaria. They were not present when the search was conducted. Inquiry into the matter is over and there is no reason to question them when they return to the hostel,” the registrar said.

Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, heavy police force, including PAC, have been deployed outside the institute, said station officer, New Agra police station, J N Asthana.

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