While the memorandum only sought the closure of slaughter houses, state VHP additional general secretary and local Dal convenor Niraj Jain said during discussions with the authorities that they would not allow restaurants and food stalls to serve any non-vegetarian food on that day.

Commissioner Mahapatra confirmed that a VHP delegation had called on him and said that while it was normal to keep slaughter-houses closed on Mahavir Jayanti, he was yet to take a decision aboutkeeping restaurants and food stalls closed.

Mahapatra said he had assured the VHP delegation that the police had made elaborate security arrangements and would ensure that no animal was slaughtered publicly on Eid.

RDC Kharsan said he had sent the VHP memorandum to the state government and confirmed that the delegation had spoken of targeting restaurants serving non-vegetarian food. Mayor Vyas said the restaurants were not under the jurisdiction of the municipality though the VMC had already announced that slaughter-houses would remain closed on March 29.

When contacted, VHP leader Jain confirmed the threats his party has made and said the Parishad would decide their course of action at a meeting at 11 am on Monday.Some prominent restaurants in the city expressed ignorance about the VHP threats. While most were firm on serving non-vegetarian food, others remained non-committal. ``There is no way I'm going to lose my business by not serving non-vegetarian food on the occasion of Bakri-Id. If the VHP mencause trouble, we'll face them. If the need be, we'll also seek police assistance,'' said a restaurateur, preferring anonymity.

Another said: ``We are not communal and have never made concessions for any religious group and there is no way we'll do it this time.''