This man was caught in Pratap Enclave, Uttam Nagar, Delhi, not only claiming to be a Hindu named Rahul Pandit but also carrying an identity card to pull off the impersonating act. When grilled by locals, who feared the food he was carrying for a gaushala (cowshed) was adulterated, he confessed his real name was Javed.
The fake identity card of Javed claimed he was supplying cattle feed to a shed run by a certain Hansraj in Vikaspuri in western Delhi. The shed turned out to be fictitious.
Some locals fear Javed was on a reconnaissance mission for a terrorist group.
Cattle feed adulteration is not happening in Delhi alone. It was reported by The New Indian Express in February from Cuttack, Odisha, that “those involved in the racket mix the cattle feed with rice husk and khadi pathar (chalkstone) powder. They are then packed and released into the open markets. While genuine cattle feed offers balanced nutrition, the adulterated one offers no nutrition and instead, poses threat to cattle health”.
Even those who feel no reverence for the cow and those who do not care for animal rights may note that “the impact of animal-source foods on nutritional status of pregnant women has long been a debatable subject. We are fast progressing into a world full of packaged food products, the swelling demand for animal-source foods is met with an array of branded and non-branded products available on the supermarket shelves in a variety of price ranges,” writes Kumar Ranjan in The Financial Express.
The article goes on to say: “The food these animals consume lay a direct impact on the quality of the end-product. Several studies in the past have highlighted that there exists a widespread practice of adding antibiotics, subtherapeutic doses and enzymes to animal feed with an aim to enhance productivity. Often, antibiotics intended for treatment are used as growth promoters to augment the produce. The practice is so harmful that it’s completely banned in Europe but a lot of countries including India are still reeling under the adversity caused due to consumption of adulterated animal-source foods. “
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