BANGALORE: The next time you order any dish with 'paneer' (cottage cheese) in any hotel, be careful. It may not have in it even traces of milk, the base ingredient for making it. Adulterated paneer made of urea and other harmful chemicals has flooded the market, city police have warned.
One-and-a-half tonnes of adulterated paneer were seized from an outlet on 16th Cross, Lakkasandra, near Wilson Garden, and Marathahalli on Tuesday, police confirmed. Five persons have been arrested in this connection, they added.
"The entire stock was brought from Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu and the packets did not bear stamps of their year and date of manufacturing and expiry and also the maximum retail price. We have sent the samples to a chemical laboratory. The Food and Civil Supplies Department (FCSD) and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike's health department have been informed about the seizure. We have also sought further action on the adulterated food stuff," police commissioner BG Jyothi Prakash Mirji said.
The entire adulterated food stuff was seized from Sri Sai Baba Enterprises and later from another premises at Chowdeshwari Layout in Marathahalli of Bangalore East after the accused persons confessed about the stocks.
"Most of these materials came in different names and from different manufacturers in Dharmapuri," Mirji said.
An investigating officer citing preliminary investigations said the 'paneer' is not fit for human consumption. Its consumption could damage internal organs, including kidneys.
"We will know about the exact nature of the toxic materials used in the 'paneer' after chemical analysis. An independent investigation will be conducted by the civic authorities and by the FCS department officials," the officer said.
The five arrested persons are S Subramani, 32, of Krishnappa Garden, Tavarekere; S Krishnamurthy,48, of Nanjappa Layout in Adugodi; C Shekhar Reddy,40, of Chowdeshwari Layout in Marathahalli; N Rajendra, 55, of Sudhamanagar and B Prashanth, 20, of AD Dasarahalli.
A Maruti Omni van used in transporting the material and two mobile phones were seized from the accused. A case has been registered with the Adugodi police.
Police are not ruling out the presence of adulterated paneer in the city's markets. They said at least 100 tonnes of paneer arrives from Tamil Nadu every month.
SALEM MILK
'Salem' milk in Bangalore is an euphemism for adulterated milk made of urea and other hazardous chemicals. Several thousands of litres of Salem milk have been seized by Bangalore police over the past years. Police said it was natural that products made of Salem milk too were now flooding the city.
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