Cow meat going out of India as carabeef, police investigation on

Ohri, Raghav. 2018. Cow meat going out of India as carabeef, police investigation on. The Economic Times.

Cow meat is being passed off as buffalo meat and illegally exported from India with the help of fake certificates, alleged by multiple complainants triggering an ongoing investigation by the police in at least five states.

Nine first information reports have been filed by the police in Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Jharkhand in the past two months (2018) and consigments of 1011 tonnes of suspected cow meat worth Rs. 16 crore have been seized so far.

In seven out of nine samples sent to the Forensic Science laboratory (FSL), it was found to be cow meat being passed off as buffalo meat. Two Delhi based export companies Vertex Agri Products and Global Food International Corporation are facing cases in various states.

Arrest warrants have been issued against the first. This meat is being exported to Vietnam, Doha, Qatar, Gabon and Ghana. APEDA has issued notices to these companies but ‘no response has been received to the showcause notice in spite of repeated reminders.

The beef seized which was found to be cow meat was 390 crores in Bidar and 80 – 90 tonnes in Mumbai Maharasthra worth 5-6 crore and 1.5 crore respectively.