Authorities seize 1,600 Kg rotten meat at J&K’s Budgam railway station

Srinagar, Nov 14 (SocialNews.XYZ) In a late evening operation on Friday, authorities seized 1,600 Kg of rotten meat at Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam railway station.

Officials said on Saturday in a major food safety operation, approximately 1,600 kilograms of rotten meat was seized at Budgam Railway Station during a late evening joint operation involving the District Administration Budgam, Railway authorities, Municipal Committee Budgam and Animal Husbandry Department.

The seizure has raised serious concerns over the transportation of unsafe and unhygienic meat and the possibility of its eventual entry into the local food supply chain, posing potential health risks to consumers.

Officials said yesterday’s consignment originated in Delhi and was shipped without prescribed cold-chain packaging. A joint inspection team including the Tehsildar Budgam, Food Safety officials, the Animal Husbandry Department, and a veterinary doctor officially certified the meat as unfit for human consumption.

Railway Police registered an FIR and initiated an investigation to trace the consignors in Delhi and the intended local recipients in Kashmir.

Yesterday’s interception follows a massive food safety scandal that first erupted across Kashmir in August 2025. Whistleblowers and investigations revealed that rejected mutton, chicken, and beef from Delhi’s Ghazipur Mandi were being treated with chemical cocktails (including chlorine, ammonium hydroxide, and nitric acids) to mask foul odour and restore a fresh red appearance.

It must be recalled that on July 31, 2025, the Food Safety Department and the Drug and Food Control Organisation raided a cold storage unit in the Zakura industrial estate on the outskirts of Srinagar, recovering 1,200 kg of decayed meat. Subsequent valley-wide sweeps uncovered thousands of kilograms of spoiled mutton, chicken, and pre-processed wazwaan items—including 2,500 kebabs and 150 kg of gushtaba containing unpermitted food colouring.

Investigations had revealed a racket sourcing rejected, expired meat from wholesale markets outside the valley, such as Delhi. Suppliers used chemical treatments and artificial dyes to mask foul odors and restore a fresh red color before selling the stock at steep discounts to hotels, dhabas, and catering units.

Police last year registered multiple FIRs across Srinagar and Budgam under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)—specifically Sections 271 (negligent act likely to spread infection), 272 (malignant act), 275 (sale of noxious food or drink), and 61(1) (criminal conspiracy). Several cold storage operators and restaurant owners in Zakura, Parimpora, Budgam, and Magam were booked, and multiple storage facilities were sealed.

Over 12,000 kilograms of decomposed meat and adulterated products were seized in valley-wide crackdowns, hitting local restaurants, dhabas and wazwaan providers hard last year. Impact:

The crisis caused restaurant footfall and hospitality revenue to plummet as consumers lost trust and local eateries shifted toward vegetarian options like rajma chawal.

Source: IANS