Animal sacrifice resumed at Tripurasundari temple with certain restrictions from Sunday after the Supreme Court imposed a stay order on Tripura High Court’s verdict which banned animal sacrifice on September 27.

The temple is located at Udaipur subdivision in Gomati district, around 60km from here.

On Monday, temple manager Manik Datta, said: “Around 40 animals were sacrificed on Sunday after the Supreme Court granted an interim order that says slaughter of animals will be allowed if it is done as per certain restrictions in accordance with the law. It began when the Gomati district magistrate Tarun Kanti Debnath gave me permission to resume animal sacrifice from Sunday.”

He added they had covered the site where animals are sacrificed. It resumed after 57 days.

A copy of the order, which is available with The Telegraph, reads: “By way of an interim order, we direct that in the meantime, if any slaughter of animal is done for the purpose involved in these petitions, it shall be done in an area which is set up in accordance with the law. The municipal authority shall ensure such compliance.”

Advocate-general Arun Kanti Bhowmik said: “On November 8 the Supreme Court had admitted a special leave petition filed by the state government on the animal sacrifice issue. The Supreme Court, in its interim order, said that for religious purposes, slaughter can continue, but it also imposed some guidelines saying demarcation needs to be done where slaughter can be continued following the rules and as per certain restrictions in accordance with the law.”

Earlier, the head priest claimed that puja of Mata Tripurasundari is incomplete without sacrificing animals.