'Biryani spices reducing male sex drive': TMC leader orders shutting down of shops in Bengal

Former North Bengal development minister Rabindra Nath Ghosh, who is currently the chairman of Trinamool Congress (TMC)-run Cooch Behar municipality, has directed closure of two unlicensed outlets selling biryani allegedly using spices that were reducing male sex drive.

Ghosh clarified that although there were complaints by several locals on this count, that is not the main reason for closing down the two outlets, purportedly owned by one Pappu Khan, an original resident of Bihar. "The municipality has its own way of checking the food quality. But when I went to the shop, I asked for their trade license which they failed to produce. So, on those grounds these two outlets were closed," he said.

It is learnt these two shops were adjacent to a Shani Dev temple in the Bhawaniganj market area in Cooch Behar town. Ghosh has claimed that he had been receiving complaints from the locals that these two shops were using spices that were reducing male sex drives.

So, on Sunday evening, Ghosh reached the shops along with his associates and questioned the owner and the employees of the shops on this count. There, the outlet's owner and the employees also got involved in a heated conversation with Ghosh and his associates. Thereafter, the minister asked for their trade licenses and after the owner was unable to produce them, the municipality chairman ordered closing down of the shops.

He also said that there are complaints that people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh coming in the area are running food business without proper trade and food licenses. "They also bring their employees from their respective states. The faces of those working in these outlets change frequently," he added.