Cold storage facility with 650 kg of suspected cow meat, dhaba sealed in Phagwara; 7 arrested

The Phagwara police on Thursday evening sealed an illegal cold storage facility — where about 650 kg of suspected cow meat was found — and ‘Jyoti Dhaba’ that was operating above it, near Chachoki village in Kapurthala district.

Acting on a tip-off, the police launched a swift raid to nab the accused, including a foreign national from Myanmar, prompting suspicions of a wider international network.

Those arrested include Rihana Alam, Manjoor Ali, Mukhtar Alam, Yakir Hussain, Azad, and Qurban Ali — all residents of Malda district in West Bengal — as well as Madan Lal, a local resident of Chachrari village near Goraya.

Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Toora said the accused were presented before the local judicial magistrate, who granted five days of police custody for further interrogation aimed at uncovering the full extent of the operation.

However, several individuals named in the FIR remain absconding. They include dhaba owner owner Manjit Singh, and others, identified as Taseem (Bulandshahr), Bhoora (Hapur), Vijay Kumar and Babbu (Basant Nagar, Phagwara), Arman (Myanmar), and Vilas Rana (Saharanpur), besides nine unidentified suspects.

The FIR, filed on the complaint of Gurpreet Singh, national president of Sanyukt Gau Raksha Dal, alleged that the facility was being used to process and pack suspected cow meat for distribution in Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Uttar Pradesh. The police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Sections 299, 325 and 111, relating to animal cruelty and public health concerns.

Following the recovery, the local authorities ensured the suspected meat was handled in accordance with religious sentiments. The remains were buried at Khajurala village near Phagwara in a ceremony attended by several community leaders, including former Union Minister Som Prakash, Phagwara Mayor Rampal Uppal, constituency in-charge Harji Maan, and representatives of various Hindu organisations.

Community and religious leaders called for stringent legal action and permanent closure of the establishment to prevent future violations.

Later in the evening, senior police officials, including Superintendent of Police (SP) Rupinder Kaur Bhatti and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bharat Bhushan visited the site and formally sealed both the cold storage facility and the dhaba. The presence of elected representatives such as MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal during the enforcement action underscored the political and civic gravity of the case.

The authorities are yet to confirm the exact nature of the seized meat, pending forensic analysis.

Punjab