CHENNAI: A team of health officials of the Chennai Corporation and the Government Railway police seized around 4.24 tonnes of rotten mutton on Jaipur Express at the Chennai Central Station here on Tuesday . After locating an un-notified, fly infested, foul- smelling cargo on platform number 10 at around 10 am, the Railway Police informed the health officials. A team of around 15 personnel led by the Zonal Health Officer, Suguna Bushnakumari, landed at the spot and inspected the package which turned out to be rotten mutton and declared it unfit for human consumption. The cargo was later destroyed at the Kodungaiyur dumpyard.
According to the Railway Police, the un-notified cargo was meant for sale at hotels and local markets. While a kilo of mutton costs `400, sources say this rotten mutton is being procured by several small hotels for a price as low as `150-200.
This is not the first time that inedible meat has been recovered from the Jaipur Express. In September 2012, officials had confiscated a similar cargo weighing four tonnes from the same train. “We are keeping a close eye on meat which arrives by train from other states and also monitoring the hotels to check the quality of meat,” health officials said. The Railway Police are investigating to trace the source and destination of cargo.