10 tonnes of seized khoya disappears in Delhi

NEW DELHI: In a feat that makes Houdini's disappearing acts seem like child's play, 10 tonnes of khoya seized by the department for prevention of food adulteration from the Khoya Mandi near Mori Gate on Wednesday, vanished without a trace within hours of being impounded. All that is left of the largest seizure in the capital of what is suspected to be adulterated khoya, are samples lifted by PFA department officials for testing.
Behind the disappearance is a familiar story of callousness and lack of coordination among government agencies. The consignment lay in the open at the mandi's auction site all morning as officials tried to 'persuade' the police to seize it. While the PFA department claims the police refused to take the consignment into their possession despite a written request, the cops say no such request came to them through "official channels".
The losers in this battle will surely be consumers in Delhi, as the khoya is likely to find its way into sweets sold during the festival season.
According to health minister Kiran Walia, the early morning raid in the mandi was led by the food safety commissioner. "The moment the team reached there, some men just fled leaving their entire consignment of khoya behind. Technically, the khoya had no claimants and so had to be handed over to the police. But police refused to seize it even when the SDM who was present at the spot gave in writing that there were no claimants for the khoya," Walia said.
The Delhi Police put the blame on the administration. "The SDM has to officially write to us so that we have to take possession of the material. No such communication came through official channels. If we indeed did not pay heed to their request, they could have lodged a complaint. Nothing of the sort took place," said a senior officer at the DCP (north) office.
The tussle continued for hours and Walia says she herself reached the spot in the afternoon to sort out matters but by then the entire khoya consignment had disappeared. "We do not know what happened. May be passersby picked up some of it or may be the men who had come to sell it returned to take it away because it had been left out in the open," Walia said.
The minister said she would send some of the khoya samples to the Shri Ram Institute in addition the the government's own testing lab, where the samples have already been sent.
The reports are expected in a day or two but with the seized item missing, this is one case that does not seem to be going anywhere.