In a startling twist to a routine ice cream treat, Mumbai was left reeling after a severed human finger was found inside a butterscotch cone earlier this month. DNA tests confirmed that the severed fingertip belonged to Omkar Pote, an employee at an ice cream factory in Indapur, Pune, news agency PTI reported citing an official familiar with the matter on Thursday, June 27.
"The Forensic Sciences Laboratory report received today indicated that the DNA from fingertip matches that of ice cream factory employee Omkar Pote," the official told the news agency.
According to the report, Pote lost part of his middle finger on May 11 while packing ice cream at the Indapur factory, and the manufacturing date on the ice cream cone aligns with this incident. Following this revelation, Mumbai Police have filed a negligence case against Fortune Company.
The finger was found on June 12 when 26-year-old Malad resident Orlem Brendan Serrao found the human finger while consuming a butterscotch ice cream ordered online by his sister. Serrao initially raided the issue with the ice cream company via Instagram but escalated it to the police after receiving no response.
Subsequent investigations led Mumbai Police to the ice cream factory in Pune, where Pote had sustained the injury during the manufacturing process, the PTI report said.
Police statements confirmed that Pote's DNA samples were collected and analysed at the forensic science lab in Kalina. A case has been filed against managers of Yummo Ice Creams, the company associated with the ice cream cone in question.
Yummo Ice Creams had responded to the incident with a statement, saying, "We have stopped manufacturing at this third-party facility, isolated the said product at the facility and our warehouses, and are in the process of doing the same at the market level. Product quality and safety being our highest priority, we were in process to address the situation. Meanwhile, the matter was escalated, and an official police complaint was filed by the customer".
In response to the incident, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a stop-work notice to the Fortune Dairy facility in Indapur.