Amid lockdown: Fake edible items pushed in
New Delhi: At a time when the country is passing through a serious lockdown, the fake edible items have reared its ugly head. In outer Delhi a truck was intercepted by two Delhi police constables and approximately 600 litres of adulterated desi ghee packed in cartons was found. All of the packets bore trademark of reputed companies. Further investigation revealed that it was actually spurious ghee locally prepared but packed in the packets of reputed brands to sell at higher prices.
"Our team has seized 600 litres of fake ghee in Mangolpuri and a case was registered under Copyright Act, 1957 and Trademarks Act, 1999. Further investigation is on," said Outer Delhi police Commissioner Dr. A. Koan.
The matter has been handed over to the District Investigation Unit (DIU) for further inquiry.
"We have contacted the companies of desi ghee whose brand names were used by the fake ghee manufacturing units and got it tested. The companies confirmed that these products were duplicate," said an officer privy to the investigation.
Though the Delhi Police is investigating the root of the fake factory, the driver gave a vague response. According to police, the driver who was nabbed was not carrying any invoice of the packed products and could not reply on the destination of the loaded items or its origin.
However, in a case like this, often the manufacturers of the fake products break the chain so that the police do not reach them.
Often this desi ghee is prepared by boiling vegetable oil and mixing soya bean oil into it and later the essence of desi ghee is added into it to fool the customers.
"This sub-standard
ghee is sold at an exorbitant amount often equal to the price of original products. The ghee packets also carry the fake
logo of the company along with the hologram," said a police officer.
Often this spurious ghee can be hazardous to health. Hence, the offence is serious in nature. Police has also added charges of cheating (IPC 420) to the FIR.
The most shocking part is that the fake edible items is still active amid the lockdown when most of the units are closed and gathering of people is prohibited.
