The Crime Investigation Department (CID) seized a consignment weighing 3,400 kilograms of suspected spurious khoya in Shimla on Wednesday. This has raised an alarm in the city and residents are now concerned if the ‘sweet poison’ has already made way to their homes.

The consignment came from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh on the order of seven dealers who have confectionary shops and fast food outlets in and around Lower Bazaar, Mall road, Chotta Shimla and New Shimla.

One of the dealers also provides khoya to markets in Rohru and Rampur in Shimla district.

A CID team, including Sub-Inspector Anup Singh, ASI Naresh Kumar and Head Constable Rajinder Thakur, seized the khoya at the railway cargo yard.

DIG (CID) N Venugopal said the samples of the khoya have been taken by the Food Inspector of the Shimla Municipal Corporation and sent for tests to a government laboratory in Kandaghat.

Preliminary investigations revealed that not all khoya was of good quality and seemed to have some chemical content, he said.

“A case will be registered against the suppliers as well as those who ordered the consignment after the test reports are received,” said Venugopal.

He said though the exact source of the supply could not be confirmed, there was information that it had come from Muzaffarnagar, which is infamous for use of chemicals such as urea in khoya and paneer.

He said names of seven dealers had come up but the official announcement will be made only after a sample reports come in and a detailed investigation is conducted.”

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