Almost 80,000 kg of meat seized by the Taloja police following a raid on a cold storage facility on June 14, 2022 has been found to be beef. The police had sent 12 samples to a forensic lab for testing and 11 were red-flagged. No arrests have been made yet. This is the biggest seizure of beef in Navi Mumbai since the meat was banned in 2015. During the raid on the facility, SIBA international cold storage, at Taloja MIDC, 79,196 kg of meat valued at around Rs 1.54 crore was seized.

Almost 980 boxes packed with 17,604 kg of meat worth Rs 35.20 lakh were found in a container while 28,494 kg of meat was found in another container. Meat was also found in a godown in the facility. The packets in the containers as well as the godown were labelled ‘frozen boneless buffalo meat slice’. The police, in the presence of veterinary officials, took samples and sent them for analysis to the forensic laboratory in Kalina.

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An officer of the Taloja police station said, “The report, which was received on August 13, suggests that the seized meat is beef, which is prohibited. Also, the cold storage manager did not have any documents regarding the meat. Hence, we lodged an FIR.” “The owners and office-bearers of the facility will be called for questioning and appropriate action will be taken,” said Jitendra Sonawane, senior inspector of Taloja police station.

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