Mumbai: A week after a doctor in Malad discovered a part of a human finger in ice cream, the Malad police team is on the brink of a breakthrough. During an interrogation at a factory in Indapur Taluka of Pune, where the ice cream was manufactured, police learned that a 24-year-old worker had sustained injuries to his middle finger while working in the factory. The police suspect that the finger in the ice cream belongs to this worker. DNA and medical examinations have been conducted on him, and the police await the report.
Ravindra Adane, Senior Police Inspector, Malad police station, stated, "The investigation revealed that a worker's finger sustained injuries. We have sent the DNA sample of the worker to the forensic science laboratory for investigation. His finger accidentally got broken, and after that, no one realized where the finger part had gone. After receiving the forensic report, we will take appropriate action related to individuals."
The ice cream was manufactured a month ago in the Indapur factory. After production, the ice cream was brought to the Hadapsar godown, then to Sakinaka, and then to Bhiwandi before finally reaching the Malad godown and being delivered to Dr. Ferrao. The police have investigated five locations. Nobody in the Indapur factory officially reported the accident. The worker received treatment in a private hospital.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has already suspended the license of the Pune-based ice cream manufacturer pending investigation.
The manufacturing company earlier had provided a statement to FPJ, stating, "Product quality and safety are our highest priority. We have stopped manufacturing at this third-party facility. We have isolated the affected product at the facility and our warehouses and are in the process of doing the same at the market level. We are a law-abiding company and shall fully cooperate and support the authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly."
Malad police registered a case against officials related to Yummo Ice Creams after a city doctor found a severed human thumb in a cone. Dr. Brendan Ferrao, 26, a Malad resident, discovered the finger in his ice cream and approached the police on June 12. The case was registered under Sections 272 (adulteration of food or drink intended for sale), 273 (sale of noxious food or drink), and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code on June 13.
Dr. Ferrao ordered ice creams on an app on June 12. While consuming a cone, he found a two-centimeter human thumb lodged in the ice cream. “After I finished half of the ice cream, a big hard piece came under my teeth. I thought it was a piece of chocolate. I removed it from my mouth and saw that it was a piece of a human body. Being a doctor, I recognized that it was human,” he said.
