Two held for repackaging, reselling expired producrs in Thane

Thane, Jul 13 (PTI) Two persons from a recycling company have been arrested in Maharashtra's Thane district for allegedly repackaging expired products, including food items, for resale in the market, police said on Sunday.

The Thane city police raided two godowns in the Dahisar area of Shil-Daighar earlier this week and seized 200 tonnes of expired goods, an official said.

He said the accused, Mohammad Irfan Mohammad Munir Chowdhary (41) and Mohammad Akram Mohammad Ismail Shaikh (58), are partners in a recycling and waste-handling company in Bhiwandi.

"Based on a tip-off that a recycling company was engaged in bringing expired products back into the market instead of destroying them, our team conducted raids on July 9 and 10 at two godowns located in Dahisar," the official said.

He said the team found that a massive stockpile of nearly 200 tonnes of expired goods, initially dispatched by an e-commerce company for safe destruction, were being repacked and stored for resale.

The stock included food grains, cereals, flour, sugar, rice, dry fruits, toilet cleaners, sanitary pads, washing powders, and branded soaps, the official said.

"Labels on these products were deliberately torn, and the items were repacked in plastic and gunny bags to be sold in Bhiwandi and surrounding areas," he said.

The official said that the duo was booked under sections 318(4) (cheating), 336(2) (forgery), and 340(2) (using forged documents or records as genuine) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. PTI COR ARU