CHENNAI: In a shocking incident, around 2,190 kgs of suspected dog meat that was transported by train from Rajasthan, was seized by Food Safety officials at Egmore station on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, officials of the Food Safety department inspected the parcels unloaded from the Bhagat Ki Kothi - Mannargudi weekly express at platform 5 at Egmore station.
When officials opened rotten smelling parcel boxes, it came to light that the meat, suspected to be that of dog, was stored in thermocol ice boxes.
While ten boxes had de-skinned full animal bodies appearing to be of dogs, another ten boxes had thigh and leg pieces. In some boxes, legs were chopped off so as to conceal the identity of the meat, said officials.
Surprisingly, the parcel box which was sent from Jodhpur, did not contain a copy of receipt for the parcel which is mandated for transporting goods by trains.
Dr R Kathiravan, Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration, Chennai, told Express that the 2190 kgs of meat had been seized as the parcel did not have the seal of the slaughter house. “Besides, there was no evidence for complete cold chain maintenance during transportation. It is suspected that the iceboxes had been changed at nine places between Jodhpur and Egmore,” he added.
To identify the animal, samples of meat have been sent to the meat science department of Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Vepery.
“Going by the anatomical look of the meat, it does not look like goat. It may be some other animal (dog). We will be able to confirm it only after getting the test results,” said Kathiravan, adding that the meat was not fit for human consumption anymore, hence it was handed over to Greater Chennai Corporation, and subsequently destroyed.
The Food Safety wing has asked the railways to provide the details of the consigners. “If it is found to be dog meat, appropriate legal action will be initiated in accordance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, “ noted Kathiravan.
So far, the Food Safety wing has been unable to trace the network through which meat from other states is getting distributed to hotels or small vendors in Chennai.
Three transgenders duping woman, held
Chennai: The police arrested three transgenders for allegedly stealing money from a woman by diverting her attention. Police said, R Varsha (24), P Pallavi (28) and V Batheeja Banu (26), all transgenders, had approached V Jayashree (43) from T Nagar on Wednesday and convinced her that she would earn a lot of money if they ‘blessed her purse’. While one of them posed like he was doing so, two others took Rs. 5,000 from the purse and returned it. Only after reaching home Jayashree realised she had lost her money and lodged a complaint with the Pondy Bazaar police station. Based on her complaint the police arrested the trio. They were remanded under judicial custody.
Software engineer run over by MTC bus
Chennai : A 28-year-old software engineer was fatally run over by an MTC bus after his motorcycle skidded on Stephenson Road at Perambur on Saturday. The victim had married only seven months ago, police said. The tragedy occurred when Amroach Kataria of Otteri had gone to buy grocery. While passing along Stephenson Road, he tried to overtake an MTC bus on route number 142, when his vehicle skidded and the bus ran over him. Locals staged a protest alleging that construction workers dumped material and garbage on the road posing a danger to road users. Despite several complaints, no action was taken. Residents demanded action against a building company.
82 sovereigns stolen from two houses
Chennai: Around 82 sovereigns of gold jewellery were stolen from two houses at Ayanavaram and Villivakkam on Friday night. Arun Kumar (38) of Agasthiar street, owns a rice wholesale shop near his house. “A few days ago, Arun Kumar and his wife left for a marriage and returned on Friday. The same evening, they were getting ready for a birthday celebration. Kumar’s wife who went to take jewellery from cupboard, found 52 sovereigns of gold missing” said police. They lodged a plaint with Villivakkam police. In the second case, Karthikeyan (45), a resident of Ayanavaram, owns a super market at Kellys. His wife and he returned home on Friday after work and found the door of their house opened. Burglars had stolen 30 sovereigns of gold.
Quack arrested from Kalpakkam
Chennai: A quack was arrested by Kancheepuram police for allegedly practising allopathy. Subitradoss had set up a clinic near Kalpakkam Atomic Research Centre. When a contractor from the research centre had gone for a check up recently, he suspected him to be a fake doctor. Joint director of medical services, conducted a raid at the clinic and found the person to be only a matriculate. He was arrested.
Police crackdown on stolen mobile sales
Chennai: Police have come down hard on sale of illegal cell phones by arresting sellers and a person involved in changing IMEI of stolen devices. Over 2000 suspect phones have been seized from Burma Bazaar and T Nagar in the pan city operation. Pondy Bazaar police used I cloud tracking to identify an iPhone X stolen by two unknown persons at Pondy Bazar on November 9. Using an alert message sent to the device from the phone of the victim’s wife, police tracked the address to Abdul Rahman of Perambur, who sells stolen iphones. Police seized over 60 iPhones from his shop and arrested him. Police held raids at Burma Bazaar and 325 cell phones and 20 laptops were seized.
Rs. 3L stolen from two bikes at Poonamallee
Chennai: Around Rs. 3 lakh was stolen from two vehicles at Poonamallee on Friday. Dheena Dayalan (53) of Poonamallee, a vegetable shop owner, had withdrawn Rs. 1 lakh from bank. He had stopped at a supermarket leaving his bag in a box attached to his bike. When he returned, he found the bag missing. Similarly, Devaraj, who owns a spare parts shop had kept Rs. 2 lakh in a pouch on his bike. He had stopped at a shop. When he returned, the cash bag was missing.
Bid to smuggle Rs. 16 lakh worth foreign currency, Rs. 18.8 lakh gold foiled
Chennai: Customs officials foiled separate bids to smuggle Rs. 16 lakh worth foreign currency and gold worth Rs. 18.8 lakh at the airport on Friday. Nagoor Meera Jabbar, 48, and Rizwan Rasool Khan, 35, were intercepted. $20,500 (worth Rs. 16 lakh) was found concealed in both their rectum. In a separate case, Mohamed Ismai (33) was intercepted and a gold piece weighing 30 grams was found in his pocket. Officials also found that the sole of his footwear had small packets of a rubbery material weighing 290 grams. A further check resulted in recovery of 103 grams of gold. Overall 133 grams of gold worth Rs. 4.25 lakh was seized. In a third incident, Customs officials recovered gold worth Rs. 14.6 lakh in the pant pocket and phone batteries of Ibrahim Shah Abbas, 21.
‘Charge sheet in gutka case prepared hastily’
Chennai: DMK president M K Stalin on Saturday alleged that the preliminary charge sheet submitted nt CBI in gutka case has been done hastily even as the CBI director has been directed by the Supreme Court not to take important decisions in cases. In a statement, he said that the charge sheet had left out certain names and it is suspicious. He called for an impartial probe.