Karnataka Officials Probe Seized Meat for Dog Meat

Bengaluru: Officials concerned of the Food Safety and Standards Department, Bengaluru sent samples of meat collected from parcels seized at outer premises of Bengaluru city railway station on Friday evening to determine the species of animals.

A total of 90 parcels were seized by police and officials of Food Safety and Standards Department, Bengaluru after public and activists suspected dog meat was being transported via train from Rajasthan to Bengaluru city.

The Commissioner of Food Safety and Standards Department, Bengaluru stated in a release here on Saturday the samples have been sent for laboratory tests for analysis to determine the species of animals in the parcels transported from Rajasthan.

Further, the Commissioner said legal action against senders and recipients will be initiated after verification of licenses from the officials of FSSAI and if any discrepancies are found then legal action will be initiated against erring persons.

On Friday evening, confusion prevailed at Railway Station in Bengaluru city after activists intercepted a transport vehicle in the outer premises of the Railway Station suspecting the parcels load on to the transport vehicles contained dog meat reportedly transported from Rajasthan via train to Bengaluru city to be supplied to hotels in the city particularly around the Majestic area.

Rizwan Qureshi, a trader, said he suspected about the supply of alleged dog meat to Bengaluru city about six months back and had apprised Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a letter, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials among others but nothing substantial happened.

Qureshi added he got suspicious of meat trade in Bengaluru city after he came to know that a trader identified as Abdul Razak sold meat to hotels for a lesser price. While a kg of mutton costs about Rs 800 in Bengaluru city, meat suspected to be that of dogs was sold for less than Rs 600 a kg.