Three outlets of food chain Baba Biryani were sealed by the administration in Kanpur city stating that samples collected from them allegedly failed the quality test in an Agra laboratory.
The owner of Baba Biryani, Mukhtar Baba, is accused of financing Hayat Zafar Hashmi, the alleged “main conspirator” behind the June 3 violence in Kanpur’s Beckonganj area over remarks against Prophet Muhammad by a former BJP spokesperson.
Mukhtar, who was arrested on June 21, is currently in judicial custody.Food Safety and Drug Administration designated officer (Kanpur) Vijay Kumar Singh said, “Checks are done regularly and this action was also part of it. The raw material was collected from the restaurants on June 8, and then the samples were sent for testing.”
“Some synthetic colours and other foreign matter were found in the samples. Therefore, the licences given to Mukhtar’s restaurants were cancelled on Monday and the outlets were sealed. This was done keeping in mind public health after the laboratory report,” he added.
Of a total of six restaurants that were shut, three are of Baba Biryani in Rawatpur, Swaroop Nagar and Naveen Market, he said. “The three others are Zaika Food, Ali Baba and Al-Huda. On June 8, samples from 24 restaurants were collected and reports for nine samples came to me on June 25 following which the licences of six restaurants were cancelled. The outlets were sealed on Monday,” Singh added.
