Maharashtra: Portable cow meat detection kits to be rolled out this month

While the ban on beef and cow vigilantism continue to polarise opinions, the Maharashtra police will get portable cow meat detection kits to instantly know if a meat consignment seized from a restaurant or vehicle is beef (cow or bullock meat) or buffalo meat.

At present, the state's forensic science laboratories get around 100 meat samples for testing every month but their reports take days. The 'cow meat detection test' to be operationalised this month in 45 mobile forensic support vehicles deployed across Maharashtra will throw up these results in just half-an-hour. This, the authorities say, will help defuse the law and order situation when suspected beef consignments are seized.

SP Yadav, director general (legal and technical), Maharashtra police, said seizures of suspected beef lead to social tensions. These meat samples were sent to labs which took time to give their reports.

"When beef is seized from the suspect, it is a perishable item and the quantity is very heavy. Once it is tested and found to be buffalo meat, the person is at a great loss for no fault," he noted, adding this led to litigation and claims for compensation. "This is an authentic test so, the problem can be resolved," said Yadav, adding that the quick results would help the police defuse the situation faster, book the accused or let off people if they were innocent.

While the killing of cows and calves (male and female) is banned under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976, the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 1995, approved during the tenure of the erstwhile Shiv Sena- BJP led state government extended it to bulls and bullocks. This legislation was approved by President Pranab Mukherjee in 2015.

"Prima facie, the meat of bullocks and buffaloes may seem alike. However, their protein pattern is different and can be identified by an ELISA test," explained KV Kulkarni, Director, Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory, adding that these cow meat testing kits would be deployed in the mobile forensic support units at 36 district police headquarters and nine police commisionerates.

"When trucks are stopped (on suspicion of carrying beef) and when there are complaints about hotels serving beef, it takes time to test meat samples," said Kulkarni, adding that the new cow meat testing kits costing around Rs 8,000 each will generate results in just half an hour. One kit can test 100 samples.

"The ELISA test will identify the proteins in cow meat and help dispose off many samples on the spot. Those testing positive in the screening will be sent to our laboratories for confirmation through DNA testing," said Kulkarni. He added they would deploy these kits by month-end and were in the process validating the equipment by testing different types of meat.

At present, DNA testing facilities are available in the Pune, Mumbai and Nagpur forensic science laboratories, where it takes three days for the results to be generated due to the scientific processes involved. This month, these facilities will be launched at the Aurangabad and Nashik labs.

The mobile forensic support units also collect blood samples and fingerprints to generate forensic evidence for judicial scrutiny.