The kingpin of the meat racket involved in procuring dead animals from dumping grounds and processing their flesh before supplying to markets was arrested from Garia in South 24 Parganas district by the SIT, the West Bengal police said on Thursday.

Biswanath Garai (52), a resident of Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district, was arrested from near the Garia railway station by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) last evening, SP, Diamond Harbour police district, Koteswara Rao told PTI.

So far, 11 persons have been arrested, including a leader of a political outfit, in connection with the case.

Biswanath alias Bishu is the prime accused and the owner of the godown in Narkeldanga area in the city where the meat of dead animals was stored, he said.

“Bishu was involved in collecting the meat and then processing it. He was then getting them supplied to different restaurants and markets,” Rao said adding that the grilling of the accused was being done. It is also being examined whether any influential person was helping him in carrying out the “business”.

“We are also looking for how many years he was running this business and who all are helping him in getting orders,” another SIT official, involved in the investigation, said.

Last week, the government had seized 20 tonnes of rotten meat, suspected of dead animals and sourced from dumping grounds, meant to be supplied to eateries and departmental stores in the state as well as neighbouring Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar.

The state consumer affairs department is also preparing a detailed report on the matter. The West Bengal government has directed all police stations in the metropolis and the districts to keep a watch on the sale of meat in their areas, officials said.

Earlier in the week, fear of dog and cat meat being served in restaurants gripped the people of West Bengal ever since the Kolkata police seized 20 tonnes of rotten meat suspected to be of dead animals.

The state, which has a sizeable number of non-vegetarian lovers, witnessed a sharp fall in the sale of meat of any kind ever since reports of the massive seizure came out. Adding to that are fears that the meat seized consisted of rotten carcasses of dogs and other animals from various parts of the state.

In a major raid conducted in Rajabazar area on Thursday, 26 April, police found around 20 tonnes of rotten meat ready to be shipped to restaurants and other meat sellers in the state and outside.

On Saturday, 28 April, the police said that the sellers of the rotten meat were using chemicals such as formalin, calcium propanoate, aluminium sulphate and lead sulphate to remove the unbearable stench of the meat.

“First they would wash the meat with formalin. Then they separated the fat from the meat to arrest rotting and inject calcium propanoate (as a food additive). After that, it was mixed with aluminium sulphate and lead sulphate to get rid of the foul smell and then packed and supplied to different markets and restaurants,” an officer said.

The police believe that the meat was supplied to sellers of frozen food items, eateries, and departmental stores in the state and its neighbouring areas in Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar. They also suspect that the meat may have been also been supplied to Nepal.