BEWARE: Buffaloes Injected With Oxytocin For Higher Milk Production In City

Hyderabad: Over 15 persons were arrested on Tuesday for involving in a racket which injects a drug called Oxytocin into buffaloes for higher milk production.

The Hyderabad task force police conducted raids across the city on several dairy farms and took the accused into custody. Officials seized around 48 doses of Oxytocin, along with 16 syringes and other material from the accused. The police conducted the raids under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police, South ZOne, V. Sathyanarayana.

"With the practice of injecting Oxytocin twice a day, the drug remains in the milk and results in serious issues like breast cancer, prostate cancer and impotency in men. This practice of adulteration will also result in severe medical issues in adolescents," a police officer said. These drugs without doctor prescription were banned under the Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940.

The accused are all from dairy farms. They adulterated the milk with milk powder and it comes in one kilo packets and he mixes about four or five packets into 100 litres of milk. They confessed that during summer, the milk production was low and the demand was high. So they adulterated the milk to meet the demand.

The police sent the persons to remand for further inquiry.

Oxytocin, a Love Hormone

The drug which is also called 'Love hormone', enhances emotions in humans. Injecting the drug into cattle reduces their lifespan by producing more milk. The adulterated milk contains oxytocin which on consuming leads to breast cancer, prostate cancer, weight gain, etc. Because of these dangerous side effects, India banned the drug in 2014.