Hyderabad, April 2 – Continuing its crackdown on adulterated and unhygienic food, the Hyderabad police seized 12 tonnes of sheep and goat meat worth Rs 10 lakh during a raid on a stall on Thursday.
The officers from the Commissioner’s Task Force, Golconda team, conducted a joint operation with the H-FAST team and the Mangalhat Police, raiding the store in Mangalhat and apprehending the manager, Rafi Ahmed.
The Hyderabad Food Adulteration Surveillance Team (H-FAST) was recently constituted under the leadership of Hyderabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar.
According to A. Srinivas Rao, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Commissioner’s Task Force, the shop owner, Mohd Afroz, is absconding.
The meat seized during the raid included paya (animal broth), head, brain, kidney, and liver.
He was illegally procuring stale/spoiled meat from sheep and goats at cheap rates from the wholesale market and storing it in the shop.
The accused also stored the meat for long periods in deep freezers and plastic tubs filled with stagnant water, selling it for marriage functions, events, and to hotels. The police said that this was endangering human lives.
A case has been registered under Sections 125, 271, 318(2), and 112 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Mangalhat Police Station.
In another case, the Commissioner’s Task Force, Golconda team, in a joint operation with the Tappachabutra Police, raided a bakery at Natraj Nagar, Jhirra, and arrested a person named Syed Khadeer for indulging in illegal manufacturing of bakery products in unhygienic conditions without any valid license.
The police seized various items worth over Rs 2.77 lakh, including maida, dalda (refined oil), sugar, coconut powder, and cake powder.
A case has been registered under Sections 274, 275, and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Tappachabutra Police Station.
Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Sajjanar held a meeting with food business operators on Thursday and warned them not to jeopardize people's lives for personal gain.
The Commissioner warned that strict legal action would be taken against those who engage in food adulteration for personal profit, thereby jeopardising public health. He stated that adulteration is an assault on society itself.
Approximately 200 business representatives from various sectors, including meat, dairy, bakery products, ginger-garlic paste, and tea powder, attended the meeting organised under the aegis of H-FAST.
The Commissioner revealed that during the last month, 92 cases were registered across the city, resulting in the seizure of approximately 62 tonnes of adulterated food products and the arrest of 98 individuals involved in these illicit activities.
He advised business owners to act as responsible citizens and make no compromises regarding the quality of food products.
He emphasised that every business owner bears the responsibility of safeguarding the global reputation that Hyderabad currently enjoys.
He stressed that every food business operator must mandatorily possess an FSSAI licence and urged them to immediately alert the police if they receive any information regarding adulteration taking place anywhere.