On Sunday, five people were arrested for allegedly importing cow meat from West Bengal and exporting it as buffalo meat. Officers reported that 153 tons of packaged meat, valued at ₹4 crore, was seized and subsequently destroyed.
The accused have been identified as truck driver Shiv Shankar, 35; manager Akshay Saxena, 34; director Khushruddin Nabi, 59; helper Sachin Kumar, 24; and cold storage owner Puran Joshi, 51, who operates a facility in Dadri.
According to Amit Pratap Singh, assistant commissioner of police in Greater Noida, “The meat was stored at a cold storage facility under the false brand of buffalo meat, and we are gathering details on how much meat was transported over the past few months.”
The police were alerted by Sumit Sharma, the district head of Ghaziabad’s Gau Raksha Samiti. He stated, as quoted by Hindustan Times, “We had information that cow meat was being transported and stored at a cold storage facility in Greater Noida. We notified the police on November 9 and arrived at the Luharli toll plaza. The driver claimed he was coming from West Bengal and was expected to deliver the meat to a cold storage facility in Dadri, Greater Noida.”
Ashok Kumar, additional deputy commissioner of police in Greater Noida, mentioned that police took help of a veterinary doctor to collect meat samples, which were sent for forensic testing in Mathura. “On Saturday, the laboratory reports confirmed that the meat came from a cow,” he stated, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
According to police, charges have been filed under Sections 325 (mischief by killing or maiming an animal), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 318(4) (cheating), and 328(4) (punishment for intentionally grounding a vessel with intent to commit theft) of the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita and the Cow Slaughtering Act at the Dadri police station, and an investigation is currently ongoing.
The Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955, prohibits the slaughter of cows and their progeny in the state.
