Hyderabad: Will a beef detection kit help people wrongfully being targeted? The inventor of these kits believes so. Hyderabad-based chief scientific officer Jayant Bhanushali who developed meat identification kits for Maharashtra police says that the invention could help prevent those innocent being targeted without proof.
“There is a ban on sale of cow meat. There are often suspicions and wild accusations which is not good,” says Dr Bhanushali who runs an Immuno diagnostic centre.
The scientist says, “The kit is based on Elisa, the immunology technique wherein anti-bodies are used to detect the kind of protein in the meat. The technology is readily available,” he says.
The kit costing about Rs 8,000 per unit had its first takers in the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) of Maharashtra to help their police distinguish cow meat from buffalo meat in the state which has a complete ban on slaughter. A finely ground sample mixed with special liquid could tell in under 30 minutes what the meat is, says Dr Bhanushali.
He explains that the earlier technology was based on a DNA sampling test which was much more expensive and time consuming. The GHMC Veterinary officer, Venkateshwara said that they have been sending their samples of illegal meat to the National Research Centre on Meat.
Telangana presently follows the country wide ban on cow meat. But for buffalo meat, the owners have to procure unproductive animal certificates from Veterinary officer.
