Delhi Police seizes expired imported foot products worth Rs 4.3 crore; arrests seven

New Delhi, Dec 23 (PTI) Delhi Police has claimed to have busted a major organised racket involved in the illegal import of expired branded food products and repackaging them for sale across India, an official said on Tuesday.

The police have seized expired food products worth around Rs 4.3 crore.

Seven people, including the alleged mastermind, have been arrested after raids at Pahari Dheeraj and Faiz Ganj in the Sadar Bazar wholesale market area, he said.

"The seized items included large quantities of expired food and beverages, baby food and consumables, which were allegedly sold through retail chains, shopping malls and e-commerce platforms, posing a serious public health risk," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Harsh Indora said in a statement.

According to police, the racket sourced near-expiry or expired international branded food products at throwaway prices through Mumbai-based wholesale agents, who procured consignments from countries such as the UK, the US and Dubai.

By the time these consignments reached India, most products had already expired or were unfit for human consumption, they added.

"Instead of destroying them as mandated under law, the accused allegedly altered the products by changing manufacturing and expiry dates, modifying labels and product information, affixing fake barcodes, batch numbers and MRPs, and repackaging them in fresh-looking wrappers to pass them off as genuine imported goods," the DCP said.

The officer further said the recovery of complete printing, sealing and date-altering machinery from the premises confirmed the existence of a full-fledged illegal adulteration and repackaging unit.

Officials from the Food Safety Department of the Delhi government were called to the spot during the raids, samples were drawn as per procedure, and the recovered items were seized.

The accused have been identified as Atal Jaiswal (54), who is the mastermind and godown owner, Shiv Kumar (40), Bishwajit Dhara (25), Vinod (43), Arun Kumar (30), Vijay Kant (50), and Shamim (30).

"A case has been registered against the accused. During the operation, the team recovered 43,762 kg of food items and 14,665 litres of drinks. The seized stock included biscuits and baked goods, beverages, sauces and condiments, chocolates, candies, savoury snacks and other grocery items of several well-known international brands," the officer added.

Teams also seized a large quantity of equipment used for forgery and repackaging, including hand-held inkjet printers, cartridges, steel plates, taping and sealing machines, chemicals, glue guns, and rolls of fake labels and barcode stickers. Further investigation is underway. PTI BM BM OZ OZ