BENGALURU: There was high drama at the KSR railway Station on Wednesday morning, thanks to a false alarm that dog meat was being transported to Bengaluru from New Delhi via the Rajdhani Special. This piece of ‘information’ sent the railway officials, food inspectors of the BBMP, the Government Railway Police and the Railway Protection Force into a tizzy. The inspection of the contents in the parcels revealed that it was only meat of goat and sheep.
The GRP at KSR Railway Station have booked a case under Section 273 of IPC which permits action to be taken against sale of noxious food or drink. A total of 42 boxes containing heads, legs and other body parts of goats and sheep had been booked on the parcel van of the Rajdhani which left New Delhi on Monday night (July 20), said GRP sources.
“It is legal to transport chicken and mutton as parcels on trains. The control room received a call on Wednesday morning from a vernacular journalist stating that dog meat was being illegally transported on the Rajdhani Special,“ said a source. The RPF and GRP rushed to platform 8 where the train had arrived at 6.40 am. “The boxes were opened and they were found to contain stale body parts of goat and sheep. The BBMP Food Inspector and the Health Safety Inspector of Railways were called to the spot and they collected samples for testing,” another source said. “It was decided to dispose of the consignment,” he added.
A N Krishna Reddy, senior divisional commercial manager, Bengaluru Division, confirmed the development to TNIE. “Booking mutton and chicken as parcel on trains is legal but they need to be properly packed using thermocol and ice. These perishable items need to be in a good condition. Railways can only transport the goods booked through it. Quality control is the role of the government’s Food Safety Department where the consignment was booked,” he said. A source said, “The alert on dog meat made everyone rush to take action as killing dogs for meat is illegal under IPC 1860 (Section 429) and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960.”