What was once life...

Police raid an illegal beef stall in Horana:

The telephone of OIC, Central Anti Vice Striking Force (CAVSF), Inspector Duminda Balasuriya usually crackles round the clock. Many of those who talk to him are the ones who pass vital information on illicit hooch dens scattered all over the country.

But he was startled when an anonymous caller rang him up last week and said that the beef stall at the Horana public market had been functioning without a valid license from the Horana Urban Council.

What was once life now lies in a heap of fallen leaves

The caller even said the beef stall had functioned for more than 20 years and that no action was taken by the authorities to close it down. He even went on to say that there was an illegal cattle slaughter house located at Wavella in the Horana area that supplied beef to the Horana beef stall regularly.

The caller said around 5-9 cattle were being slaughtered at the abattoir and its meat was transported by a lorry to the beef stall. What surprised the Inspector was when he cross checked from the Horana Urban Council and found that a license had not been issued to the vendor to sell beef.

They further said that a license had been issued to the vendor for the purpose of selling sundry items and vegetables. It was further revealed that a policy decision taken by the Horana Urban Council had prohibited issuing licenses to any butcher in the area to run beef stalls.

The OIC quickly realised that running an illegal cattle slaughterhouse was a serious offence as well as a health hazard. It was also unhygienic to slaughter cattle without a license.

An abattoir had to be regularly inspected by the Public Health Inspector (PHI) and certified by a Govt. Medical Health Officer (MOH).

But in this particular instance the slaughterhouse and the beef stall were both unlicensed. It soon became apparent to the police that the person who ran the slaughterhouse and the market beef stall had violated the law.

Inspector Balasuriya immediately brought this to the notice of his superiors, the Director CAVSF, SSP Jayantha Perera and SP Ranaweera who instructed him to conduct a raid on both the abattoir and the beef stall at the Horana market.

On 11th November, a team of CAVSF officers set out from Walana police station in the early hours of the morning. They headed towards Wavella, a village in Horana about two miles from the Horana town.

They arrived at a house situated in a seven acre spacious land. The policemen then stealthily walked towards an abandoned house located, just a few yards away from the main house. Both houses were located in the same land.

They were taken aback when they came across carcases of five newly slaughtered cattle and its flesh strewn on the ground. The flesh weighed 210 kilograms. There were hooks, knives and ropes and other implements used for the slaughter, on the ground. Just a few feet away from the slaughter house was a huge tank that contained body parts of more than 2000 slaughtered cattle.

Their skins lay on the ground treated with salt to be sold to shoe -makers. There were six gunny bags with body parts of cattle and their tails wagging out. The Police said the most harrowing thing they witnessed was when they found heaps of skulls and bones of nearly 2,000 slaughtered cattle lying in a corner of the compound. The stench emanating from it was unbearable, they say.

However Police suspect that the slaughtered cattle were stolen as the slaughterhouse owner was not able to substantiate his claim that he had purchased them. How on earth did they carry on this racket for so long without a valid permit, pondered Inspector Balasuriya.

The suspect who owned an illegal abattoir at Wavella was arrested by the police. Police then swooped on the unauthorised beef stall at the Horana market and found its owner had no valid licence from the Horana Urban Council to sell beef.

Following his arrest Police seized 210 kilograms of beef from the stall. The suspect was later produced before the Horana Magistrate who remanded him till November 26. The beef seized from the slaughterhouse and from the beef stall was later sent to the Dehiwela zoo by a court order.

The Central Anti Vice Striking Force (CAVSF) on a raid conducted last week at an illegal buffalo slaughterhouse at Wisenthi Mawatha, Madama Payagala found the carcases of two buffalos and eight live buffalos, two cows and a calf. Police also seized 145 kilos of meat.

The stolen buffalos and stray cattle were brought from distant places to be slaughtered during the night. The meat was supplied to beef stalls in Aluthgama, Beruwela and Kalutara areas. One suspect was arrested by the police.

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