Chennai: Beef smugglers have found a new mode of transport — inter-state and district buses.
After facing the heat from raids and seizures from Chennai Corporation and railway officials at Egmore railway station, smugglers seemed to have turned to transport by road. “They seem to have taken to buses because there are fewer checks. Only during the Diwali season are buses checked regularly,” said a corporation official.
On Sunday morning, based on a tip-off, officials stopped a bus from Vaniyambadi with a Karnataka registration number on EVR Periyar Salai. They found 2,500kg of beef in gunny bags in the luggage compartment. “Small plastic packets of meat were stored in other bags,” said Chennai district food officer S Lakshminarayanan.
The meat was discoloured, and the bus driver did not have any documents for the beef such as a bill of sale, details of buyers or a veterinarian certificate, said food safety officers. “The corporation’s veterinary officer saw the colour of the meat and deemed it unfit for consumption. Since there were no certificates, we think the meat could have been obtained from unauthorised slaughter houses, and thus can’t be sold,” said Lakshminarayanan. The luggage compartment of a bus is neither airconditioned nor hascoldstorage facilities.
Bus operators said the meat was from Vaniyambadi and meant for door-to-door sale in Muslim houses. Officials suspect that the meat is from Andhra Pradesh and more than 24 hours old.
“According to the information we received, it is from outsidethestate,” said an official. “The beef was probably going to be used to adulterate mutton. Large shops and restaurants, which buy in bulk, often purchase mutton mixed with beef,” said Lakshminarayanan. The mix can be 5kg of beef to 30kg of mutton. He said the adulteration is mild and can only be discerned through testing of the meat’s muscle strains.
Corporation officials said such adulteration could cause health complications. “Hotels who buy in bulk need meat cheap,” said an official. “Serving rotten meat could cause an outbreakof food poisoning,” an official said.
Last year, railway police and corporation officials seized thousands of kilograms of beef entering the city through Egmore and Central railway stations. They intensified raids on trains coming from Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The immediate effect of Sunday’s seizure seemed to be a rise in beef and mutton prices in Chintadripet and Periamet. Beef, which became pricier threeweeks ago, was even more expensive became on Sunday afternoon. “The price of beef went up from 150 to 180 a kg three weeks ago,” said Sajan, who runs Kerala Mess in Teynampet.
“Webuy our Sundaystock by 5.30am,” said Areef Amin, who runs a biriyani outlet on Sydenhams Road. “We needed more mutton and beef around noon, and had to pay 190 per kg of beef,” he said.
After facing the heat from raids and seizures from Chennai Corporation and railway officials at Egmore railway station, smugglers seemed to have turned to transport by road. “They seem to have taken to buses because there are fewer checks. Only during the Diwali season are buses checked regularly,” said a corporation official.
On Sunday morning, based on a tip-off, officials stopped a bus from Vaniyambadi with a Karnataka registration number on EVR Periyar Salai. They found 2,500kg of beef in gunny bags in the luggage compartment. “Small plastic packets of meat were stored in other bags,” said Chennai district food officer S Lakshminarayanan.
The meat was discoloured, and the bus driver did not have any documents for the beef such as a bill of sale, details of buyers or a veterinarian certificate, said food safety officers. “The corporation’s veterinary officer saw the colour of the meat and deemed it unfit for consumption. Since there were no certificates, we think the meat could have been obtained from unauthorised slaughter houses, and thus can’t be sold,” said Lakshminarayanan. The luggage compartment of a bus is neither airconditioned nor hascoldstorage facilities.
Bus operators said the meat was from Vaniyambadi and meant for door-to-door sale in Muslim houses. Officials suspect that the meat is from Andhra Pradesh and more than 24 hours old.
“According to the information we received, it is from outsidethestate,” said an official. “The beef was probably going to be used to adulterate mutton. Large shops and restaurants, which buy in bulk, often purchase mutton mixed with beef,” said Lakshminarayanan. The mix can be 5kg of beef to 30kg of mutton. He said the adulteration is mild and can only be discerned through testing of the meat’s muscle strains.
Corporation officials said such adulteration could cause health complications. “Hotels who buy in bulk need meat cheap,” said an official. “Serving rotten meat could cause an outbreakof food poisoning,” an official said.
Last year, railway police and corporation officials seized thousands of kilograms of beef entering the city through Egmore and Central railway stations. They intensified raids on trains coming from Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The immediate effect of Sunday’s seizure seemed to be a rise in beef and mutton prices in Chintadripet and Periamet. Beef, which became pricier threeweeks ago, was even more expensive became on Sunday afternoon. “The price of beef went up from 150 to 180 a kg three weeks ago,” said Sajan, who runs Kerala Mess in Teynampet.
“Webuy our Sundaystock by 5.30am,” said Areef Amin, who runs a biriyani outlet on Sydenhams Road. “We needed more mutton and beef around noon, and had to pay 190 per kg of beef,” he said.
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