5 held as Delhi Police busts Rs 10-lakh counterfeit auto parts racket

New Delhi, Aug 2 (PTI) The Delhi Police has busted a large-scale racket involved in the manufacturing and sale of counterfeit automobile spare parts and engine oil, arresting five people and seizing fake products worth over Rs 10 lakh, an official said on Saturday.

The operation targeted two premises -- Karol Bagh and Madanpur Dabas -- where counterfeit items bearing trademarks of reputed brands like Honda, TVS and ASK were being produced and stored, according to an official statement by police.

The raids were conducted following intelligence about the counterfeit trade, which was later verified in coordination with legal representatives of the affected automobile companies, a senior police officer said.

A case was registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Copyright Act at the Crime Branch police station.

"Large quantities of duplicate engine oil bottles, packaging materials, branding stickers and even machinery used for sealing and packaging were recovered during the raids," Harsh Indora, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), said.

Among those arrested was Shubham Panjiyar (29), a resident of Uttam Nagar, who has a prior history in a similar case registered at Nihal Vihar. During interrogation, he confessed to being involved in the illegal trade since 2020. He also provided information to the police about other co-accused who were later apprehended.

The other arrested individuals have been identified as Himanshu Kawatara, a trader from Karol Bagh; Naveen alias Deepak Taneja, Panjiyar's brother-in-law; Ramakant Chaurasiya, a supplier of fake bottles; and Shyam Narayan, who provided counterfeit packaging materials.

"The police recovered hundreds of fake items, including over 7,000 counterfeit cap foils and 2,850 bottle caps bearing the Honda brand logo, more than 3,400 TVS-branded caps and nearly 2,800 empty bottles, 1,400 brake shoes marked with the ASK logo and a bottle cap sealing machine used in the illegal operations," the DCP added.

Further investigation is underway. PTI SSJ SMV SMV KSS KSS