The Hyderabad Task Force arrested 15 persons on Tuesday for allegedly being part of a racket that was involved in injecting Oxytocin into buffaloes, for higher milk production.
The task force conducted raids across the city on multiple dairy farms, and took the accused into custody.
The police said that the suspects injected the chemical, to obtain a higher yield of milk. Oxytocin also called ‘love hormone’ is believed to have an adverse effect on the animals, as well as on those who consumed the milk.
All the 15 men, who were apprehended, worked at dairy farms.
In a statement, the police said, "With the practice of injecting Oxytocin twice a day, the drug remains in the milk and results in serious issues like breast cancer, prostate cancer and impotency in men. This practice of adulteration will also result in severe medical issues in adolescents."
The police also pointed that the prescription free sale of such drugs was banned under the Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940.
Officials seized around 48 doses of Oxytocin, along with 16 syringes and other material from the accused. The raids were conducted under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Zone,V Sathyanarayana.
These raids also come two weeks after a similar milk adulteration case was busted in the city. Reports stated that the accused had adulterated milk with milk powder to increase the quantity and quality.
“The milk powder comes in one kilo packets and he mixes about four or five packets into 100 litres of milk. He has been doing this since a month. He confessed that during summer, the milk production was low and the demand was high. So he had to adulterate milk to balance the demand,” Alwal Inspector T Anand Reddy had told Telangana Today.
The police had arrested one person in connection with the incident.