In the week since Uttar Pradesh’s ban on the production, storage, distribution, and sale of halal-certified food products was put into effect, the State’s Food Safety and Drug Administration have investigated 482 establishments at 97 locations in the State. Till Friday morning, about 2,500 kg of halal-certified products were seized, with 82 kg being found suspicious and sent to the lab for testing.
“Along with the investigation and raids, shopkeepers are being advised not to sell or store halal-certified products. Companies are being instructed to recall halal-certified products from the market and repack them,” said Anita Singh, U.P.’s Food Safety and Drug Administration Commissioner. The searches and seizures were carried out in Bareilly, Meerut, Lucknow, and Moradabad, among others. The FSDA also held meetings via video conferencing with departmental district in-charges about the actions taken after the ban was imposed on November 18.
STF probe
The Special Task Force (STF) of the U.P. police have also visited the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow in relation to a case registered against four firms for alleged irregularities in halal-certification of products sold in the State. Three teams under an Additional Superintendent of Police of the STF have been formed to investigate the case, which was registered on the complaint of a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha office-bearer, Shailendra Kumar Sharma, last week. He alleged that some companies certified certain products as ‘halal’ to increase their sale among people from a certain community for monetary gains, claiming that this is a kind of forgery and cheating.
A first information report (FIR) was registered under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), and 298 (intent to wound religious feelings), of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), against New Delhi-based Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust, Mumbai-based Halal Council of India, Halal India Pvt Ltd, and others.
