CHENNAI: Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Saturday arrested three parcel agents for their alleged involvement in transporting unwholesome meat from Jodhpur to Egmore under guise of fish last month.
According to sources, A Imran (34) of Rajasthan, M Munna Qureshi ( 46) of Gandhidham Gujarat and Usman Basha (58) from Chennai have been arrested for giving false information to railways. Later, the trio was released on bail.
Louis Amuthan, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, Chennai, said the three had been booked under sections 163 (giving a false account of goods), 165 (unlawfully bringing offensive goods) and 145 (causing nuisance) of Railways Act. “We will record the statement from the concerned railway workers and accordingly file the charge sheet”, he said.
On November 17, food safety officials seized 2190 kgs of meat in 20 thermocol ice boxes at Egmore station which was transported from Jodhpur by Bhagat Ki Kothi - Mannargudi weekly express.
A preliminary inquiry into the parcel receipt revealed that except four boxes, all other consignments were transported in the name of fish. The details of consignor and consignee had not been mentioned in the railway receipt.
The consignment did not have the seal of the slaughterhouse and also not contained required cold storage facility for transporting it for 2500 km. Following this, food safety officials seized the meat and subsequently destroyed it.
The incident leads to a controversy as the de-skinned carcass of animals in the seized meat appeared to be that of dog. On November 22, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University confirmed that the meat was that of sheep or goat and not that of dog.