Minister bumps into bar girls, adulterators during night out

Minister bumps into bar girls, adulterators during night out
PRAFULLA MARPAKWAR

MUMBAI, MAY 15: It was a busy night, even for a minister. From bar girls to milk adulterators, from Sahar to Khar and then Dharavi... But the night-life he discovered was far from what it is touted to be. Minister of State for Home (city) Kripa Shankar Singh criss-crossed the city in a pre-dawn swoop that surprised home-spun milk `dairies', waitresses at the Sa Re Ga Ma bar and even some policemen snatching a little R&R before the crack of dawn on Monday.

Accompanied by a battery of officials, Singh first visited Khar-Danda, the main centre of milk adulteration in the city, where he zeroed in on 24 families. All 24 families, who had hired a room each in a chawl, were either from Nalgonda or Karimnagar district in Andhra Pradesh.

``It's easy money for us. We buy milk from the local vendors, add water and then sell it under popular brand names like Gokul or Mahananda. The profit per litre is around Rs 10. So in just five hours, each family earns at least Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 daily,'' one of the accused confessed.

In fact, strewn all over the floor were empty pouches of Gokul, Amul, Mahananda and Aarey. ``It's really shocking that both the police and the FDA have failed to book persons engaged in milk adulteration,'' Singh said.

He also discovered that the adulterators enjoyed the patronage of the local police. As he entered the bylanes of Khar-Danda, two police constables were sitting outside one of the rooms, where the adulteration was in full swing. Not surprisingly, both constables vanished within minutes.

Another discovery was that the adulterators had changed their modus operandi. Till date, it was believed that they puncutred packets of established companies and then injected water with a syringe. Now, however, they were either manufacturing or purchasing duplicate packets of these companies.

Soon after that, the minister headed for Dharavi, where he found that theadulterators were using electric sealing equipment. ``No one can recognise the real and duplicate,'' Singh remarked.

The Khar and Dharavi police have since registered offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Food and Drugs Administration (Prevention) Act. According to a senior FDA official, in the absence of stringent provisions, the department was unable to book culprits. ``Our demand is that all offences under the act should be non-bailable,'' he said, adding that of the 20 lakh litres of milk supplied to the metropolis, at least eight to nine lakh is adulterated.

Earlier, the minister had dropped in at the Sa Re Ga Ma restaurant near the Sahar international airport and found that even at 2.30 am, business was thriving. Even at that unearthly hour, he found more than 50 customers and 26 bar girls even though the rules stipulate that such establishments shut at 1.30 am.

Also, not a sungle customer had a licence required for consumption of alcohol. ``I have asked the police to cancel the hotel's licence and book all the customers present,'' Singh said. Ironically, a sub-inspector with the Sahar police, who was present when Singh entered the bar, was the one that got away. But, Singh said: ``No doubt he has escaped, but we have identified him. I have asked the zonal deputy commissioner of police to take action against him.''