Police in Jamalpur’s Sadar upazila on Sunday arrested five people while they were allegedly transporting horse meat to Dhaka for sale to restaurants. 

Around 1,000kg of meat from 13 horses was seized from their possession. The confiscated meat was later buried in the ground.

According to the police, the five people were subsequently sentenced to six months in prison by a mobile court and fined 110,000 taka.

The convicts are Md Humayun Kabir, 40, of Sholakuri village in Madhupur upazila of Tangail; Alfaz, 42, and Md Shahid, 35, both of Char Dubakandi village in Gopalpur upazila; Md Jewel, a pickup van driver from Jorbridge area of Sarishabari upazila in Jamalpur; and Tasir Mia, 25, a pickup van assistant from Batkul village in Zajira upazila of Shariatpur.

According to police and local sources, the group bought 13 horses in the Tulsirchar area of Jamalpur Sadar upazila and slaughtered them there. The meat was then packed into sacks and loaded onto a pickup van.

As the group was heading towards Dhaka, members of the Narundi Police Investigation Centre, acting on a tip-off, conducted a raid in the Mirapur area of the upazila. The five suspects were arrested and the pickup van carrying the meat was seized. The vehicle and the confiscated meat were subsequently taken to the Narundi Police Investigation Centre.

Md Najmul Haque, officer-in-charge of the Narundi Police Investigation Centre under Jamalpur Sadar upazila, told Daily Waadaa that the group had been involved in slaughtering horses and selling their meat for a long time.

“Our team had been working for some time to identify and arrest the members of the group. Eventually, we detained them with horse meat,” he said.