189 Tonnes of 'Illegal' Meat Seized in Vizag
This was a well-organised racket operating under the guise of legitimate buffalo meat export, said DCP Manikanta Chandolu
Visakhapatnam: The police have arrested three persons and seized 189 tonnes of “illegal” meat involving the slaughter of cows and export of such meat disguised as buffalo meat.
Investigations began after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence conducted inspections at major ports, including Kolkata, Gujarat and Visakhapatnam, following reports of illegal cow slaughter and meat transportation to other countries.
Acting on complaints, the assistant director of the animal husbandry department, along with state Vigilance and food safety officials, inspected the Sri Mitra cold storage in Anandapuram police area. The facility was operated by M/s MISH OVERSEAS PVT LTD, which claimed that all the stored meat were of buffalo, meant for export.
However, laboratory tests at a Hyderabad facility gave a different picture. Of the initial six samples tested, three weighing 87,945kg were identified as cow meat, two samples of 37,656kg bull meat, and only one sample of 18,720kg buffalo meat. Eight additional samples from the remaining 45,416kg meat were later sent for testing.
The Anandapuram police registered a case on Nov 3, leading to the seizure of 189,737kg of illegally stored meat.
Investigations led to the arrest of Md Farhan, owner of MISH Overseas pvt ltd, and a meat exporter.
Subsequently, special police teams arrested two main accused: Mansoor Ali, a beef supplier, who was held in Lonavala, Maharashtra and Rashid Qureshi, supplier in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Both have been remanded to judicial custody.
According to police, the accused formed an organised gang that illegally slaughtered large numbers of cows in various states.
They fraudulently labeled the cow meat as buffalo meat and created fake documentation including invoices, e-way bills, and health certificates to export the consignments through the Visakhapatnam port to other countries.
"This was a well-organised racket operating under the guise of legitimate buffalo meat export," said DCP Manikanta Chandolu.
Following a police petition, the court ordered destruction of the seized illegal meat. In compliance with all legal procedures, the 189 tonnes of meat would be destroyed under the supervision of the GVMC, the pollution control board, animal husbandry department, revenue officials, and the police.
