It appears to be a scam unique to Bengal ~ the thriving trade in dead chicken and the flesh of carcasses. Food that is unfit ~ even potentially poisonous ~ for consumption has found its way to eateries by the roadside, even small restaurants.

It is now fairly established that the spurious food market in Kolkata has been thriving for a while, but the government would appear to have realised it only now. The arrest of nine persons, including a former CPI-M councillor, has prompted the police to set up a Special Investigation Team. The probe will hopefully be focussed.

Yet it would be delusory to imagine that the racket has been coordinated by only a handful of people, operating from the airport’s “Arai gate” to the eateries and the so-called “fried chicken” centres in the city. Understandable, therefore, is the almost overwhelming panic ~ which peaked on Sunday ~ in the retail markets.

Preliminary investigations speak of a well-entrenched network that stretches to Nawada in Bihar, from where the kingpin has been arrested. The revelation that there are five suspected middlemen reaffirms that there are links in the chain to facilitate so dubious an enterprise.

That suspicion is reinforced when the police claims that there exists a “conduit between the linkmen” and the swanky departmental stores that sell chicken, dressed and packed, let alone the sale of meat to the moderately-priced hotels and restaurants. The route of the stale meat that is supplied to the eateries suggests that middlemen are in cahoots with the owners of the eateries.

And this ensures a steady supply of dead chicken and the flesh of carcasses… and at throwaway prices with the operatives earning a neat profit in the process. Small wonder that the ringleaders are said to have earned between Rs 5 and Rs 6 lakh on an average for every such transaction.

Though the contours of the racket may have been identified, the fact remains that it is yet to be busted; the scam covers the purchase and sale of chicken, mutton, and pork, including such products as ham and salami.

It is hard not to wonder why the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the food and civil supplies department, and the police had failed to act earlier. The nature of the scam cries out for coordinated action of which there was little or no evidence till a week ago. Its near-endemic proportion confirms that it has been thriving for long.

A close monitoring of the dumping grounds would long ago have exposed the racket as well as the modus operandi. It is a largely urban tragedy concerning life’s essentials, indeed a source of protein. The administration will have to do a lot for a citizen to view a chicken curry without suspicion.