Dead animals from dump yards were being picked up, processed and sold around the region, police find
Police in Kolkata have unveiled a massive criminal racket that collected dead animals from dump yards in the city, packaged the meat and sold it all around the region, including Bangladesh, reports the Times of India.
Police raided an ice factory at Rajabazar on April 25 and found 20 tonnes of carcass meat.
A week before that, three persons were arrested on the charge of carrying out meat from a dumping ground in the Kolkata outskirts.
Police have found that they sold this meat to processing units, restaurants and suppliers in Bangladesh and Nepal and neighbouring states.
A local politician, former Gayeshpur Municipality councillor, Manik Mukhopadhyay, was arrested on Friday. He is believed to have been the backer of this gang.
Police say three arrested men from Rajabazar – Sunny Malik, Kai Siang and Mohd Farid – were the ringleaders of this operation.
Nine people have been arrested so far, after the revelations caused widespread panic and public outrage in the state of West Bengal.
According to police, the arrestees claimed the carcass was mostly stray dogs and cats.
Indian authorities are getting the meat tested in forensic labs.
The Budge Budge dumping ground, where the crime was discovered, is the final destination of the city’s waste and dead animals, and ashes from local crematoriums.
