Army raids on biriyani kitchen in Chennai

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Chennai: The army on Thursday ‘raided’ the main kitchen of a popular biriyani chain, seized the cooking equipment and sealed the place as it was situated within the St Thomas Mount Cantonment area without official approvals.
“I have taken charge as the CEO (chief executive officer) of the Cantonment a couple of weeks back and during my inspection of the areas under the Cantonment jurisdiction, I found this kitchen working without valid permission from the Cantonment board for quite some time.
I found that it not only lacked the official sanction but also was wanting in hygiene”, Cantonment CEO S. Prabakaran, who led the ‘raid’ along with officers from the army and the local police, told reporters.
Prabakaran said the ‘raid’ was cleared by the Cantonment Board president Brigadier Deepak Sharma, who is also the station commander of the Army.
“Our brigadier is keen on maintaining cleanliness in our area and also ensure that no unauthorized activity takes place here”, said the CEO, adding that the ‘raid’ team included the Cantonment assistant health officer, Colonel J.P. Singh. Prabakaran said several vanloads of the biriyani and other non-vegetarian delicacies were being sent out every day to the many outlets run by the popular chain in the city.
When a reporter pointed out that many workers in the kitchen could be rendered jobless, he shot back, “You are asking about a hundred workers in that kitchen whereas we are worried about thousands of people who could fall ill consuming its food.
The Cantonment board is responsible for maintaining the health and hygiene in the area under its jurisdiction”. There was stiff resistance from the staff of the kitchen, mostly women.
They blocked the army truck and relented only after the local police intervened. Meanwhile, some staff hastily carried away the cooked biriyani  in vans of the hotel chain.