Nothing suspicious about powdery substance found in ‘dhow’ goats: FSL

The ‘mysterious’ powdery precepitate found inside the stomachs of the four goats on board the MSV Yusufi dhow, intercepted last month, turned out to be mud that may have been unsuspectingly consumed by the animals along with food.

The ‘mysterious’ powdery precepitate found inside the stomachs of the four goats on board the MSV Yusufi dhow, intercepted last month, turned out to be mud that may have been unsuspectingly consumed by the animals along with food.

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The police had suspected the powder to be explosives or some other contraband. The Yellow gate police, along with coastal agencies, had intercepted the dhow carrying imported cigarette cartons and 30 goats from Dubai on April 4.

During an x-ray examination of the livestock, four goats were found having suspicious black patches along the insides of their stomach. The police had extricated the powdery substance and sent it to forensics for testing.

Sources at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) at Kalina told HT that several tests carried out on the powdery substance concluded that it was only undigested mud that may have been chewed on along with fodder.

“Tests for several kinds of drugs, explosives and metals carried out on the powder turned negative. It was finally found that those were innocuous residues of mud/stones that the goats ate and could not digest,” a source said.

Since the perpetrators of the 26/11 terror attacks had used the coastal route to enter the city, the incident assumed significance.

The Yellow gate police station had registered an FIR in the matter after intercepting the dhow and arrested seven persons in the case.