Mumbai cops trace ice cream factory worker who suffered finger injury during work

Mumbai: Mumbai Police have identified an employee from an ice cream factory in Pune district whose finger was cut during the manufacturing process, leading to the discovery of human flesh with a nail in a butterscotch ice cream cone which was ordered online by a city-based doctor, officials said.

The employee, identified as 24-year-old Omkar Pote from Pune, lost the tip of his finger on May 11 while filling ice cream cones at the Fortune Dairy factory in Indapur.

Police have collected Pote's DNA samples and sent them to the forensic science laboratory, officials said on Wednesday.

The incident came to light when a Mumbai-based MBBS doctor found the human flesh with a nail in an ice cream cone ordered online on June 12.

Following the doctor's complaint, a case was registered against officials of the Yummo ice cream company and the flesh found in the ice cream cone was sent to the forensic science laboratory in Kalina.

The investigation led a team from the Malad police station to the ice cream factory in Indapur, where they traced Pote.

"Police have collected Pote's DNA samples and sent them to the forensic science laboratory in Kalina to ascertain whether the part of the finger found in the ice cream belonged to him (Pote)," an official said, adding that the police are awaiting a report from the forensic science laboratory.

Manoj Tupe, the owner of Fortune Dairy, stated that they are cooperating with the investigation and awaiting the DNA report.

Tupe mentioned that their unit was not solely responsible for the incident, as the main firm had outsourced the task of filling ice cream cones to multiple units, including those in Ghaziabad and Jaipur. He noted that authorities have dispatched teams to these locations for further verification.

"Authorities have dispatched teams to the units in Ghaziabad and Jaipur to verify if a similar incident occurred on that particular date," he claimed.

Following the incident, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a stop-work notice to the Fortune Dairy unit in Indapur, Tupe added.

The doctor, a resident of Malad West, had ordered a butterscotch ice cream cone of the Yummo Ice Creams on June 12. He was shocked to find a half-an-inch-long piece of flesh with a nail while consuming the ice cream, according to the complaint.