The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has registered a case against two railway parcel staff serving at Tiruchi Junction for allegedly obstructing its personnel from discharging their duty while trying to check a consignment on suspicion that it contained meat but was misdeclared as poultry feed. The consignment was sent to Mumbai from here recently.
Summons have been issued to the two railway staff Srinivasan, Parcel Clerk, and Shanmugam, Chief Parcel Supervisor, to appear before the RPF here for inquiry in connection with the case.
Railway sources told The Hindu that a consignment of 10 poly bags under a particular brand name of poultry feed was sent to Tiruchi Junction for dispatch to Mumbai by the Nagercoil – Mumbai Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminal express train on November 30.
The bi-weekly express (Train No. 16352) arrived in the afternoon at Tiruchi Junction on November 30 and the poly bags were loaded in the parcel van of the train.
In the meantime, RPF Sub Inspector, Tiruchi Naveen Kumar received information that the consignment had been misdeclared as poultry feed and that it contained meat. The officer along with duty staff immediately went to the platform to check the consignment.
When the RPF personnel wanted the consignment to be off-loaded from the parcel van, the parcel staff allegedly refused to do so and obstructed the RPF personnel from discharging their duty. The train left for Mumbai with the poly bags on board.
The RPF authorities sounded an alert to their counterparts at Mumbai Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminal station about the consignment that was on its way to Mumbai and the suspected misdeclaration. The RPF and Government Railway Police at Mumbai seized the poly bags upon arrival of the train at Mumbai on December 1 in which they found meat weighing 842 kilograms inside the consignment.
The sources said the consignment was sent in the name of Nazir Ahamed of Sundarapuram in Tiruchi. However, the address was found to be bogus. The receiver was mentioned MYQ, Kurla, said RPF sources here.
The Government Railway Police, Mumbai registered a case under a couple of sections under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act and the meat has been sent for forensic analysis to determine whether it was beef or that of some other animal.
Meanwhile, the RPF, Tiruchi, booked a case against the two railway parcel staff under the Railway Act sections 146 (obstructing railway servant in his duties) and 175 (endangering safety of persons) and issued summons instructing them to appear for inquiry in connection with the case booked against them.
