RPF to send team to Rajasthan over suspicious meat consignment

The nearly two tonne meat suspected to be that of dogs' was falsely booked as fish consignment at Rajasthan, the point of origin, and a special team was being sent there to enquire into it, a senior official said here Wednesday.

Days after the meat consignment was seized-on arrival by an express train from Rajasthan- on suspicion that it could be that of dogs, Railway Protection Force senior divisional security commissioner S Louis Amuthan said a team would leave for Jodhpur tonight as part of the probe.

"This is false declaration. They have declared it as fish at the time of booking in Jodhpur. But we do not know whether the meat is that of dog or of sheep. It has to be decided by the food safety department (officials)", he told reporters.

To a query, Amuthan said based on preliminary findings, one person was arrested from the address provided in parcel.

"We have arrested Jaishankar based on the address mentioned. The other person Ganesan is absconding", he said.

Responding to a query on how long these kind of incidents were going on, he said, it is too early to comment.

The seized meat was sent to the government-run Madras Veterinary College here for a DNA analysis to detect if it was that of dogs or goat and the institution is expected to disclose the results in a few days.

The seizure of the meat led to a furore as it was suspected that the consignment was meant for supply to some city hotels. Some traders had, however, claimed that the consignment was only goat meat.