In a gargantuan haul, over 300 tonnes of suspected beef was seized from Unn village near Navsari during an operation on Monday evening. The meat was being carried in 13 refrigerated containers and was heading towards the docks in Mumbai. The truck drivers informed the police that the meat was loaded from Meerut and was to be shipped from Mumbai.
Members of Gaurakshak Committee in Navsari received information that beef was being transported to Mumbai. Based on this information, committee members sat on a watch at NH 8 outside Unn village near Navsari. While they were checking vehicles, members saw a trailer truck carrying a refrigerated container headed towards Mumbai. When members intercepted the truck, the driver produced bills mentioning buffalo meat. However, to verify the authenticity of the meat, the members informed police.
While the cops arrived at the spot, members intercepted 12 other trailers carrying refrigerated containers that were carrying beef as well and mentioning the same information on their bills.
"The meat is certainly beef and to divert police and other officials, buffalo meat is mentioned on the bills and challans. Transporters have been using this modus operandi for past many months. According to an estimate, over 3 lakh kgs of beef is stored in these 13 containers," Ashwin Barot, member of Gaurakshak Committee in Navsari, said.
When police officials interrogated the truck drivers, they said that the meat was loaded from a slaughter house at Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. The containers were headed to the dockyard in Mumbai, from where it was to be transported to Gulf countries.
As per orders of the Supreme Court, refrigerated containers can be opened only at the final destination - in this case Mumbai. So a team of Navsari Police, accompanied by a team from FSL, has gone to Mumbai with the trucks. There they will take samples of the meat and once it is confirmed to be beef, a case would be registered. However, the case would then be investigated by Mumbai Police as the incident would be registered in their jurisdiction.
