Thane: Tension gripped Hajuri locality in Wagle Estate area after a severed animal head was discovered in a dustbin, police said.

Local residents spotted the severed animal head in the dustbin on June 8. "Soon people gathered and demanded the police register a criminal case and nab the culprit," Wagle Estate Sr PI Shivaji Gaware said.

The situation escalated when activists from Hindu organisations joined the protest and demanded investigation by police. Police defused the situation, the official said. Police seized the carcass and sent samples to a lab for analysis.

"An FIR has been registered under sections 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 302 (uttering words, etc, with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person. and 325 (mischief by killing or maiming animal) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita and provisions of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act-1976," the official added.