PTI
Kanpur
A video on social media showing people scrambling to collect boxes of chocolates and other confectionery that were allegedly dumped along a highway in Kanpur has prompted a probe by police and the Food Safety Department.
The video purportedly shot in Panki’s industrial area shows people crowding around a heap of discarded food items and filling bags with boxes. Some arrived on motorcycles and in cars and stopped by the roadside to collect the discarded items, causing traffic congestion.
Police said they are yet to establish when the incident took place and which company or distributor had dumped the material.
During a preliminary inspection, police found torn and mud-stained toffee wrappers at the site. The wrappers appeared to bear the markings ‘N’ and ‘Gujarat’, an official said on condition of anonymity. The material is being examined to ascertain its source and whether the food items were expired, he added.
The video was reportedly recorded by a passer-by and later circulated on social media, the official said, adding, “Preliminary probe suggested that the location was along the highway behind a fertiliser factory, between LML Crossing and Thums Up
Crossing in Panki.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Qasim Abdi said police took cognisance of the video after it was re-tweeted by many. Teams from Food Safety units visited the spot.
“It has not yet been ascertained when the incident took place or which factory or manufacturing unit had disposed of the material,” he said.
The DCP said the matter primarily concerned the Food Safety Department. “If the officials concerned submit a written complaint, a case will be registered against the persons responsible and necessary action will be taken,” he said.
Sanjay Pratap Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration, said that a food safety team had also been sent to the spot after the department received information about the video. “It is yet to be established what exactly was discarded, when and where it was dumped, the quantity involved and whether the material was expired,”
Singh said.
He added that the investigation was underway and legal action would follow once the facts were established. “If required, a case will also be registered against the persons concerned and action will be taken as per law,”
he asserted.
