"Selling the meat of dead animals and chickens is a crime, and we have been keeping a close vigil on the traders, cold stores and slaughter houses in recent weeks," said SSP Uttam Karki, chief of Metropolitan Police Range Office, Kathmandu.Metropolitan Police Sector Office, Gongabu on Monday arrested 38-year-old Niran KC, operator of KC Chicken at Dibya Joyti in Tokha Municipality, while he was storing dead chickens brought from Sarlahi district.
Tipped off by locals, police raided the cold store and seized 79 dead chickens brought in by jeep (Bolero Na 3 Cha 169). Police said a preliminary investigation has shown that the cold store had been importing dead chickens from various district at cut-rate prices.
Police said that the other regulatory authorities concerned were not so serious about curbing the alarming sale of unhygienic meat in the Valley. Meat traders and slaughter houses were found selling meat from dead animals in the past also, risking the health of customers.
Metropolitan Police Balaju on 20th June had seized about 200 dead chicken from Welcome Cold Store at Banasthali and arrested Nanda Kishore Gupta, the operator. Locals had complained to the police and following the police raid, it was found that dead chickens were purchased at half the market price from poultry farmers in Sarlahi.
Gupta denied the alligation and claimed that the chickens had died on the way to Kathmandu because of heavy rainfall. He was nevertheless found guilty and charged for black marketeering. He was released last week after paying a bail amount of Rs 115,000.
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