Cow meat traced in five Delhi's meat-processing units

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Cow meat traced in five Delhi's meat-processing units

 

Deepak Kumar Jha/ New Delhi

 

FIRs have been registered against five meat-processing units located

in Lawrence Road industrial area of North-West Delhi following

recovery of cow meat samples during a raid conducted by a team of

Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) officials.

 

 

 

 

The raids were conducted following a tip off received by MCD

Commissioner Rakesh Mehta that illegal trade was going on inside the

meat processing units of the city. Of the six samples recovered, five

tested positive at the Capital's prestigious research institute, the

Shri Ram Institute for Industrial Research.

 

 

 

MCD's Veterinary Department Director Dr RPS Tyagi, in charge of

testing the meat samples, confirmed that some of the samples had

tested "positive" but declined to reveal more.

 

 

 

Sources said that testing positive meant that cow meat had been

traced within the bulk of mutton, lamb, buffalo, ox and bull meat.

The raid was conducted last week under the supervision of Dr ML

Sharma of MCD Vet Department, said a senior MCD official.

 

 

 

Late on Monday evening, an FIR was registered against all the five

processing units- Anjania Cold Storage and Meat Processing Industry,

Suri Meat Processing Unit, Darshan Food Processing Complex, Jolly

Cold Storage and Sushil Cold Storage and Meat Processing Unit.

 

 

 

"They have been charged with violating the rules under two acts--the

Delhi Cattle Preservation Act and the Prevention for Food

Adulteration Act. We have also written to the Union Environment and

Home Ministry as this is a very sensitive matter," a source told The

Pioneer.

 

 

 

The meat processed at these units is exported and is not meant for

domestic consumption but sources said that a few processors `slip'

these meats into the local market, hotels and restaurants.

 

 

 

However the owners of Anjania have appealed to the Commissioner that

the samples collected from their unit should be re-tested as one of

the two samples collected from here had tested negative.

 

 

 

Meats processed at private meat and food-processing units are treated

and packed under international standards. They obtain the license to

bring in raw meat from adjoining areas like Rampur, Mewat Moradabad,

Bulandshahr, Muzzafarnagar, Meerut, Kandhali and other places. The

processing units procure raw meat from private suppliers.

 

 

 

Slaughtering of cow is banned all over the country except in the

states of West Bengal and Kerala. "But this is for the Delhi Police

and the police from neighbouring states to explain as to how cow meat

is being transported into the national Capital," the MCD official

added.

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