Dead chicken row: Prime accused held from Arsula

Kolkata: In a major breakthrough in the case of alleged supply of dead chicken from Baduria in North 24-Parganas to some restaurants and eateries in the city, the Baduria police on Monday morning arrested a person from Arsula area.

The accused Monirul Mondal, according to police sources, would procure dead chicken, cut them and supply it to various restaurants and eateries in the district and also to Kolkata.

"He has been on the run and has been continuously changing his location. He was nabbed on the basis of a source information when he was trying to visit his own residence in Arsula," a senior police officer of Baduria police station said.

He was produced at a local court in the afternoon and was remanded to police custody for three days. We are of the opinion that more people are involved in the racket and will interrogate him for further leads," the officer said.

On Thursday, a team led by Basirhat SDO Nitesh Dhali, and senior district police officers, raided Arsula and Jagannathpur and arrested seven persons with around 40kg of dead chicken. Police also seized the van they were transporting the chicken in and 19 dead birds were recovered.

According to local sources, there are nearly 10,000 poultry farms in Baduria where several quintals of dead chicken were being preserved with formalin and ice before being supplied to the markets.

"The poultry traders of areas like Anarpur, Jagannathpur, Arsula, Mathabhanga and Taragunia in Baduria block used to sell dead chicken at only Rs 20-Rs 25 per/kg. The preserved chicken were later packed in thermocol boxes and dispatched to several hotels, restaurants and markets in Kolkata and its suburbs.

Sources added that the buyers purchased this preserved meat at Rs 70 to Rs 80 per/kg while the normal rate of fresh chicken is Rs 160 to 180 per/kg in city areas.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) that has been conducting drives against dead chicken in the city got the second set of report on whether formalin was being used for preservation.

"The test reports of the samples that were collected from some branded chicken shops in the city has revealed no irregularity," Member Mayor-In-Council (health) Atin Ghosh said.

The KMC will soon send the samples they have collected to Jadavpur University to check whether there is presence of bacteria in these stuff.