BENGALURU: A controversy over the alleged transportation of dog meat at Bengaluru city railway station has taken a new twist, with food safety commissionerate officials confirming it to be goat meat.
Police Friday seized 90 insulated boxes with 2,700kg of meat that had arrived by train from Jaipur. Tension prevailed at the station and adjoining areas on Friday evening when activists gathered in large numbers to protest the alleged transportation of dog meat.
However, contrary to the allegations of right-wing activists that dog meat was illegally sold in Bengaluru after getting parcels from distant states, the packages that arrived on Friday evening had ‘chevon’ (goat meat) packed in insulated boxes.
Police registered three FIRs on Friday night over the incident. “The first FIR was against the transportation of meat, suspecting it could have been mixed with dog meat, and the second was against cow vigilante Puneet Kerehalli for obstructing food quality department officials from discharging their duty. Another FIR was registered against Puneet and his four associates for unlawful assembly in a public place,” a senior police officer told TOI.
K Srinivas, commissioner of food safety, clarified that dog meat is not being sold in Bengaluru and what arrived in the parcel was ‘chevon’. “The meat, at the outset, was not of a dog but is of a special breed of goat, Sirohi, which is largely found in Rajasthan and Kutch-Bhuj areas of Gujarat. They also have a slightly elongated tail and spots on them. Hence, people could easily confuse them for a dog. There were no signs of dog meat in the samples. Due to short supply of mutton and ‘chevon’, some traders source it from other states and sell it here at an affordable price,” he added.
As the meat packages arrived, questions were raised as to why any trader would bring such a huge quantity of ‘chevon’ to Bengaluru when there was so much availability of sheep and goat in Karnataka. However, much to the dismay of many, experts from the department of animal sciences at Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK) revealed there was severe scarcity of ‘chevon’ in Bengaluru.
Prof B L Chidananda, former professor of animal sciences at GKVK, said: “Unlike the popular sheep varieties, Karnataka does not have its own varieties of goat. Due to this, there is a shortfall of 25% to 30% of ‘chevon’ in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka. At the same time, Bengaluru, along with other districts of Karnataka, is the largest consumer of meat. Bridging this gap and keeping in mind the price affordability, traders source cheap varieties of chevon from other states where there is largescale production.”
Police Friday seized 90 insulated boxes with 2,700kg of meat that had arrived by train from Jaipur. Tension prevailed at the station and adjoining areas on Friday evening when activists gathered in large numbers to protest the alleged transportation of dog meat.
However, contrary to the allegations of right-wing activists that dog meat was illegally sold in Bengaluru after getting parcels from distant states, the packages that arrived on Friday evening had ‘chevon’ (goat meat) packed in insulated boxes.
Police registered three FIRs on Friday night over the incident. “The first FIR was against the transportation of meat, suspecting it could have been mixed with dog meat, and the second was against cow vigilante Puneet Kerehalli for obstructing food quality department officials from discharging their duty. Another FIR was registered against Puneet and his four associates for unlawful assembly in a public place,” a senior police officer told TOI.
K Srinivas, commissioner of food safety, clarified that dog meat is not being sold in Bengaluru and what arrived in the parcel was ‘chevon’. “The meat, at the outset, was not of a dog but is of a special breed of goat, Sirohi, which is largely found in Rajasthan and Kutch-Bhuj areas of Gujarat. They also have a slightly elongated tail and spots on them. Hence, people could easily confuse them for a dog. There were no signs of dog meat in the samples. Due to short supply of mutton and ‘chevon’, some traders source it from other states and sell it here at an affordable price,” he added.
As the meat packages arrived, questions were raised as to why any trader would bring such a huge quantity of ‘chevon’ to Bengaluru when there was so much availability of sheep and goat in Karnataka. However, much to the dismay of many, experts from the department of animal sciences at Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK) revealed there was severe scarcity of ‘chevon’ in Bengaluru.
Prof B L Chidananda, former professor of animal sciences at GKVK, said: “Unlike the popular sheep varieties, Karnataka does not have its own varieties of goat. Due to this, there is a shortfall of 25% to 30% of ‘chevon’ in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka. At the same time, Bengaluru, along with other districts of Karnataka, is the largest consumer of meat. Bridging this gap and keeping in mind the price affordability, traders source cheap varieties of chevon from other states where there is largescale production.”