Slaughterhouse row: Operator gets bail

Bhopal: A sessions court at Bhopal on Wednesday granted bail to Aslam Qureshi arrested in connection with alleged smuggling of cow meat from Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) slaughterhouse in Jinsi, which he operated under contract.He was arrested after a group of cow vigilantes caught a container on Dec 17, 2025 and alleged that cow meat was being carried in the container from the slaughterhouse for illegal export. A court of judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) had refused Aslam bail earlier this week saying that charges against him were serious and he can't be granted bail at this stage of the case.Appearing for the accused in the sessions court of Pankaj Kumar Jain on Wednesday, counsel for Aslam Qureshi, Jagdish Gupta, argued that the offence for which his client has been arrested is not a major crime and entails punishment of only 1 to 7 years. He said that SC has ruled that bail should be given to an accused in any any crime for which the maximum punishment is 7 years or less. The offence he is charged with is minor and the case is triable by the JMFC court, he said. The counsel referred to anomalies in the lab reports about the meat seized from the container and said while the veterinary department's lab in Bhopal said it was buffaloes' meat, lab in Mathura said it was cow meat and Hyderabad lab refused to carry out DNA and RT PCR tests because the sample of meat sent there had rotten by then.Gupta further contended that the CCTV footage presented by the special investigation team (SIT) investigating the case nowhere shows cows being brought into the slaughterhouse. Talking to TOI, Gupta said that the judge also saw the footage and after being convinced that no cow is seen getting into the slaughterhouse, he granted bail to Aslam Qureshi on furnishing a personal bond and surety of Rs 35,000 each.