Govt raids shop selling 'beef powder'; owner says it's 'sattu'

A grocery shop here was raided today on the suspicion that it was selling "beef powder" in packets even as the shopkeeper said "it is sattu" and attributed the "wrong" label to "printing error".
A team led by SDM Shakti Singh raided the grocery shop on the direction of the Deputy Commissioner.
Someone had lodged a complaint with Health Minister Anil Vij that "beef powder" was being sold by the shop.
Under the Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill, passed in March last year, cow trafficking, slaughtering and eating beef are banned in Haryana.
Vij directed the DC to conduct a raid on the shop.

The raiding team led by SDM sealed the packets of suspected powder, officials said.

It found that "corned beef" was printed on the packets.
Civil Surgeon Vinod Gupta, who also accompanied the team, said the sample has been sent to state laboratory and facts would be revealed after report comes.
He said mentioning manufacturing and expiry date on the packets of edible items is mandatory but such details were not printed on these packets.
The shopkeeper, however, said "corned beef" was printed on the packet while in fact the product 'sattu' (powder of roasted wheat and gram) was filled in it.

He said he had purchased those empty packets from Delhi and he was not aware about the "printing error".
He said he had mentioned 'sattu' on the packets with black marker.
Meanwhile, Vij has asked the DC to conduct an enquiry into the matter to find out the truth.
Haryana's Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill, passed by the Assembly in March last year, came into force in November last.
Under the provisions of the law, cow trafficking, slaughtering and eating beef are banned in the state.
The law provides for a rigorous imprisonment ranging from three years to 10 years for killing the animal.