Ox carcass row: 3 sealed shops have licence, owners sniff a conspiracy

NOIDA: At least three meat shops out of total eight in Gejha village — which were closed by the food safety and drug administration (FSDA) department after locals and vigilante groups complained against them for throwing body parts of an ox in a garbage pit – have licences for selling meat.
The department has, however, sealed them because the owners and workers at the shops ‘fled’ when a crowd gathered there on the day of the incident. Shopowners alleged that the police acted under pressure from vigilante groups and politicians, who wanted them evicted from the village.

Moeen, owner of Al Halal meat shop, said only one out of the seven persons arrested is a shopowner while all the others are workers, including a Delhi-based meat supplier, who happened to be there when the crowd gathered near the community centre where the head of an ox was found.

“One Mohammed Rehaan was present at one of the shops because he supplies meat to them. He tried to explain to the police that he was a supplier and had come from Delhi only to supply meat but no one listened to him,” he said.

Sajid Qureshi, owner of Good Luck Halal meat shop, said his brother and a worker were arrested when a group of vigilantes arrived at the spot and created ruckus. “There is a conspiracy behind this. There are many people who are not happy with this market located at a prime location near the community centre,” he said.

Sumit Tyagi, whose father owns the plot where the meat shops are located, too said that it seems that there was a conspiracy behind the incident.

“These meat shops have been running for many years. There has been no sample of beef found in any of the shops that have been shut and there is no evidence,” he said.

According to the FSDA department, three shops including Good Luck Halal, Al Halal Meat Shop and Aas Mohammed Halal Chicken Shop, have licences to sell meat.

Sanjay Sharma, designated officer, FSDA, said the department suspects that they might have been “involved in cutting meat.” “When the incident came to light, all the shop-owners fled the spot, leading to suspicion,” he said.

The SHO of Phase II police station, Rajpal Tomar, said the accused were arrested because they have “confessed” to their crime. SP Ajay Pal Sharma said the arrests had been made only on merit.