Hyderabad, April 1 (IANS) Intensifying its drive to curb adulterated food, Hyderabad police have seized a large number of ice and lassi candies laced with harmful chemicals.

The sleuth of the Commissioners Taskforce, Golconda Zone Team, along with Mehdipatnam police, raided an ice cream parlour at Ahmed Nagar, in the First Lancer area, and apprehended its owner, Syed Musharafuddin, who was manufacturing and supplying ice candies and lassi in an unhygienic environment. The team seized material valued at Rs 5.44 lakh.

According to police, the accused was intentionally using harmful chemical substances illegally for personal gain.

The police seized 92 packets of ice candies, with each packet containing 180 ice candies and 20 packets of lassi candies, with 210 lassi candies in each packet.

They also seized 300 glasses of lassi, 15 buckets of curd (each bucket of 10 kg), 50 kg sugar, a lassi machine, eight kg citric acid, 500 grams of sucrose and other materials.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Commissioner’s Task Force, Ande Srinivas Rao, said that a case has been registered under sections 274, 275, and 125 of BNS against the accused at Mehdipatnam Police Station.

This is the latest in a series of raids conducted by the city police to curb food adulteration.

The Telangana government has taken a serious note of the rising instances of food adulteration. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said on March 30 that the government will introduce a special mechanism to curb food adulteration.

He said the proposed system would be similar to the recently launched enforcement models, such as EAGLE and HYDRAA, to curb drugs and lake encroachments, respectively.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C. Sajjanar has warned that those indulging in food adulteration would be dealt with firmly.

“Food adulteration is not just a crime. It is a silent, deadly attack on every household. From the biscuits and ice creams we lovingly give our children to everyday essentials like ginger-garlic paste, tea powder, milk, and curd, adulterators are poisoning the very food we trust. The scale and brazenness of these acts are deeply alarming,” he said.

The Police Commissioner hailed the decision of the Chief Minister to establish a dedicated food safety system.

Sajjanar said the Hyderabad Commissionerate has already set up the ‘H-FAST’ team, which is cracking down firmly on adulteration networks.

“In the past one month, 61 cases have been registered, 15 tonnes of adulterated products seized, and 64 accused arrested. There will be zero tolerance for those who gamble with innocent lives for profit. The fight for a society free from adulteration and for safe, trustworthy food will only intensify,” he added.

–IANS

ms/vd