Police busts counterfeit household goods racket in Delhi-NCR, four held

New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) The Delhi Police has busted an alleged criminal network involved in manufacturing, storing and selling household items and food products under counterfeit labels of popular brands in Delhi-NCR, an official said on Wednesday.

Police have arrested four accused in this connection and seized large quantities of fake-branded fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), he said.

The accused -- Nitin Kumar (38), Rajat Singhal (38), Surender Gujjar (45) and Mujahid (38) -- were caught red-handed while receiving consignments of the counterfeit products in west Delhi's Uttam Nagar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vikram Singh said in a statement.

"The racket posed a serious risk to public health and caused substantial losses to companies by circulating spurious food and FMCG items in the market," the statement read.

A police team conducted surveillance near Metro Pillar No 680 in Uttam Nagar on December 29, following inputs that a group was engaged in the large-scale sale of fake ghee, digestive products, mosquito repellents, hair removal creams and iodised salt.

The suspects were intercepted around 2.15 pm along with vehicles carrying the suspected goods, police said.

According to the statement, searches of the vehicles led to the recovery of a huge quantity of counterfeit items, including over 1,100 litres of fake ghee with various brand labels, 8,640 sachets of digestive powder, 1,200 mosquito repellent units, 1,152 cosmetic products and around 3,000 kg of spurious iodised salt.

Samples were drawn and the remaining goods were sealed and seized. Authorised representatives of the concerned companies later confirmed that the recovered items were counterfeit, it added.

"During interrogation, prime accused Nitin Kumar disclosed that an illegal manufacturing unit for counterfeit ghee was operating in the Kanjhawala Industrial Area. A subsequent raid at the location resulted in the recovery of fake ghee, packaging and sealing machines, forged wrappers and other raw materials used in the manufacturing process. No valid licences or documents were produced for the operation," the DCP said.

Further searches were also conducted at premises in Nilothi Extension and Nihal Vihar, which were found to be used for illegal storage and repacking of fake iodised salt.

Around 2,000 kg of spurious salt packed in sacks bearing forged labels was seized, along with repacking machinery such as weighing, sealing and stitching machines and large quantities of empty branded pouches, police said.

Police said the accused operated a well-organised supply chain, procuring empty tins, fake wrappers and packaging material of popular brands.

Fake ghee was manufactured using adulterated raw material and repacked with forged labels, while other counterfeit products were sourced from different illegal units.

The goods were stored in godowns across west and northwest Delhi and transported through tempos and delivery agents to avoid suspicion before being sold in local markets at cheaper rates than genuine products.

Police said Nitin Kumar, a graduate, had been involved in the wholesale supply of household goods for over a decade and had previous cases registered against him in Delhi and Haryana. Rajat Singhal and Surender Gujjar were also engaged in wholesale and retail trade through weekly markets, while Mujahid was involved in manufacturing and supplying fake mosquito repellents and cosmetic products.

A case has been registered and further investigation into the matter is underway, they added. PTI BM BM ARB ARB