Driver of NCP leader Naik held for selling beef

NAVI MUMBAI: Three days after a Worli meat seller became the first to be held in Mumbai for violation of the beef ban law, Navi Mumbai saw its first case under the legislation as three persons were arrested after a police raid in Koparkhairane led to recovery of over 350 kg of beef and the body parts of a bullock.

Among the arrested accused was Irfan Patel, who works for NCP leader and ex-state minister Ganesh Naik as a driver. Police said the licence for trading in goat meat that was seized, though expired, was in Patel’s name.

Acting on a tip-off from the NGO People For Animals (PFA), Koparkhairane police on Friday morning raided a tin shed at an under-construction building in Khairane village where the beef was being sold and arrested Patel’s brother Rizwan and a worker, Mohammed Ibrahim Shaikh, under various sections of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995, for possession and trading.

Irfan Patel was arrested in the evening. The newly-amended act makes the offence non-bailable, with a jail term of up to five years.

Inspector Satish Gaikwad of Koparkhairane police said: “The nabbed accused Rizwan Patel was carrying the licence of trading in goat meat, but it had expired two months ago and was issued in the name of his brother, Irfan Patel.”

While Ganesh Naik was unavailable for comment, one of his aides, who confirmed that Irfan Patel was the ex-minister’s driver, told TOI: “We will have to inquire into the matter.”

Officials from the health department of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) also rushed to the spot in the morning to inspect the beef and animal parts found there. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, has also been slapped against the accused.

Animal rights activist Chetan Sharma of PFA told TOI: “We had got information that the flesh and meat of cows, bulls and bullocks was chopped and traded from this place. On Friday morning I informed the Navi Mumbai police and we raided the spot.” He said he was threatened by the accused at the time of the raid.

Gaikwad said that in 2012, he had conducted a similar raid at an illegal slaughterhouse in Koparkhairane. However, at that time, all the accused involved had managed to get bail.

Now the activists said they hoped that the amended law would ensure jail terms for the accused.

Source : TOI