Officials seize 1.5 tonnes of beef smuggled from AP

Chennai Corporation officials seized 14 boxes weighing 1.5 tonnes of beef which came from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh via the Circar Express, at the Egmore station here on Wednesday.

Following media reports about meat smuggled in from AP and sold in city shops, Corporation Health officials and Railway officials together conducted a raid at the Egmore station where they seized the meat.

The meat was sanitised and buried in the Corporation dumping ground at Kodungaiyur, said Health officials.

The seized meat, which came packed in ice boxes, had no quality stamps. Officials said that more than half of the boxes contained meat that seemed unfit for consumption.

There was a suspicion whether the meat was from butchered animals or carcasses. Meat sold in the city comes from the Corporation’s slaughter houses, where it is stamped for quality.

Officials said that its source would be difficult to determine. “Meat from the animals slaughtered here would be certified because we will be able to perform a postmortem and ascertain that the animal was indeed healthy. Here, we have no such proof,” said a veterinary doctor.

An official statement from the Corporation said that meat coming into Chennai would be thoroughly checked and confiscated if found to be of poor quality and without the official stamp.