13,000kg of beef seized near Mumbai; three arrested

The value of the seized meat is estimated to be Rs12.86 lakh; the second incident in the past week.

The Thane rural police seized nearly 13,000kg of beef, which was being transported illegally from a village in Ahmednagar to Mumbai, in the wee hours of Sunday. The police have also arrested three people and seized two vehicles. The cost of the seized meat is estimated to be Rs12.86 lakh.

The Thane rural police seized the meat that was being transported illegally from a village in Ahmednagar to Mumbai.

This is the second incident in the past one week. The Padgha police in Bhiwandi had seized 8,000kg of beef on November 2.

Vijay Surve, police sub-inspector at Padgha Police station, said: “We got a tip off that a huge amount of beef will be passing through the Padgha toll naka in the wee hours of Sunday. We staged a naka bandi at the toll post and intercepted two vehicles- a four wheeler and a tempo truck. The two vehicles were collectively carrying 12,860kg of beef. They had collected the beef from a slaughter house in Kopar village in Ahmednagar, and were headed towards markets in Kurla and Jogeshwari.”

The police arrested Jabbar Shaikh, 39, Ayaz Qureshi, 32, and Aslan Shaikh, 36. Surve said that the meat was sent to a lab for testing, which confirmed it was beef. One of the vehicles had nearly 7.5kg of meat while the other was carrying 5kg.

Surve said, “This is the second such incident in a week. On November 2, around 10am, we caught 8,000kg of beef and arrested three people. We have now increased vigil at the toll naka. Our teams have also visited Kopar and Kurla markets to find out which other people are involved the illegal trade.”

The three accused have been booked under sections 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, and relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995.