Mumbai Ice Cream Case: Was It An Employee’s Finger In The Cone?

New Delhi: Police have found that a staffer at the Pune factory of Yummo Ice Cream had suffered a finger injury in an accident, NDTV reported. The discovery comes days after the ‘human finger in ice cream’ came to light. The development is being seen as a breakthrough.

The investigation into the incident, in which day a 26-year-old doctor from Malad West alleged that he found a human finger in an ice cream cone recently, has found that the ice cream was packed on the day the accident took place, the report added citing police sources. The police have also sent samples for DNA tests and a confirmation of whether the finger belongs to the staffer will be ascertained only after the report comes in.

It may be recalled, that Brendon Ferrao (26), a Mumbai-based doctor, said he was appalled to find a piece of flesh, apparently a severed human thumb, in the frozen dessert that he ordered online. The incident occurred on June 12 afternoon, following which the man complained to the police, the police the said.

Ferrao, in his complaint, said he ordered a butterscotch ice cream cone from Yummo company through an e-commerce app. While consuming the ice cream after lunch, he found a piece of flesh with a nail in it, a police official said. The man, who is pursuing his post-graduate studies, then took up the matter with the ice cream company by complaining about it on its Instagram page. But since there was no proper response from the firm, the complainant put the piece of flesh in an ice bag and went to the Malad police station, where he lodged a complaint, the official said.

Based on his complaint, the police registered a case under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 272 (adulteration of food or drink intended for sale), 273 (sale of noxious food and drink) and 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), against Yummo ice cream company officials, he said.

“The piece of flesh, suspected to be a piece of human finger, has been sent for forensic examination to ascertain whether it is a part of the human body,” the official said.

The FSSAI Western Region office has suspended the licence of the ice cream manufacturer in Pune.

“The premises of the ice cream manufacturer have been inspected by a team of FSSAI’s Western Region Office and its licence has been suspended,” said FSSAI in a reply to news agency ANI. FSSAI further said that the ice cream manufacturer who delivered the ice cream is based in Indapur, Pune, and has a central licence as well.