Bengaluru dog meat controversy: Food safety officials deny claims

Bengaluru: The controversy over the alleged consignment of dog meat at City Railway Station here, takes a new turn as the food safety officials clarified that the meat samples that were collected from the railway station were of goat meat and no dog meat was mixed.

Earlier, tension prevailed at the Bengaluru City Railway Station when a consignment of meat weighing about three tonnes loaded in about 150 cartons reached here from Jaipur in a train on Friday night, railway sources said. 

Puneeth Kerehalli, a cow vigilante had claimed it was dog meat. However, meat dealer Abdul Razzaq, who had ordered the consignment, dismissed the charge and said it was sheep meat. He alleged that Kerehalli wanted to make money by levelling false accusation.

"We have legal documents to prove it. One can see the tail of the animal that was slaughtered. It's sheep and not dog," the meat trader said.

The Karnataka Food Safety and Standards department on Saturday said samples of animal meat found in the parcels were collected and sent to the laboratory for analysis following which legal action will be initiated. According to them, there were a total of 90 parcels, and upon inspection, animal meat was found in the parcels. Samples were collected and sent to the food laboratory for analysis regarding species of animals.

In a statement, the Food Safety and Standard Authority Commissionerate said, "The police department and officials from the Food Safety and Standards Department visited the railway station and conducted an investigation on July 26. During the inspection, it was found that parcels received via a train from Rajasthan were being loaded into a transport vehicle in the outer premises of the station."

"Based on the analysis reports, legal actions will be taken. Detailed information about the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) licenses of the senders and recipients of the parcels is being collected. If any discrepancies are found, further legal actions will be initiated as per regulations," it stated.  

(Agency Inputs)