Nearly 20 tonne of rotten meat was seized last week from a cold storage in Kolkata. (Representational)
The West Bengal Police has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the sale of rotten meat suspected to be of dead animals, collected from dumpyards in the state, a senior officer said on Monday.
"A district-level SIT comprising state police officers has been formed to look into the case of carcass meat selling racket. Regular raids are going on in Kolkata and suburbs," Diamond Harbour Superintendent of Police Koteshwar Rao told IANS.
"We have
arrested 10 persons so far. It seems all the top leaders of the racket have been arrested," he said.
The officer, however, rubbished the reports of influential people from the state being involved in the racket.
Police had seized nearly 20 tonne of rotten meat last week from a cold storage in north Kolkata meant to be supplied to departmental stores and hotels, and arrested those involved in the business.
The police was trying to prepare a detailed list of departmental stores and eateries where the meat was supplied while also looking into an international angle, amid suspicion that the rotten meat was supplied to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal, a police source had said.
The racketeers used to collect the meat from different dump yards in and around the city and store it in the cold storage. It was then supplied to various city restaurants and departmental stores. The police earlier said that chemicals were used to freshen the rotten meat before it was packed and supplied to markets in West Bengal and neighbouring states.
Three days back, police had arrested eight persons for their alleged involvement in the rotten chicken trade.