Greater Noida: Five people were arrested on Sunday for allegedly bringing beef from West Bengal and exporting it as buffalo meat, officials said, adding that 153 tonnes of packed meat ₹4 million were confiscated and later destroyed.

Police identified the suspects as Puran Joshi, 51, owner of the cold storage facility; Khushruddin Nabi, 59, director; Akshay Saxena, 34, manager; Shiv Shankar, 35, truck driver; and Sachin Kumar, 24, the helper.

“The meat was stored (at a cold storage) under the fake brand of buffalo meat and we are gathering details of how much meat was transported in the last few months,” said Amit Pratap Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Greater Noida, adding that the cold storage it has been operating since May and has all valid licenses.

The gang was arrested after Sumit Sharma, a district president of the Ghaziabad-based Gau Raksha Samiti, alerted the police on November 9. “We had information that beef was being transported and stored in a cold storage facility in Greater Noida. We alerted the police on November 9 and reached Luharli toll plaza. The driver said he was coming from West Bengal and was expected to deliver the meat to a cold storage facility in Dadri, Greater Noida,” said complainant Sharma.

The police took the help of a veterinarian to collect meat samples and sent them for a forensic report to Mathura. “On Saturday, the lab reports were received and it was revealed that the meat belonged to the cow,” said Ashok Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Greater Noida.

Certainly, the Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955 prohibits the slaughter of cows and their progeny in the state.

Following the forensic reports, the police destroyed the meat and sealed the cold storage.

Police have registered a case under section 325 (mischief by killing or maiming an animal), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 318(4) (cheating), 328(4) (Punishment for willful stranding of ship or ashore with intent to commit theft) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act and cow slaughter at the police station Dadri, and a further investigation is underway, the police said.