New Delhi, April 3 Police have busted a racket of repackaging and circulating expired food and beverage products in Dwarka, arresting three men and seizing a large consignment of items from multinational brands with forged manufacturing and expiry dates, an official said on Friday.
Police said they have recovered 3,096 cans of soft drinks from various brands and a large quantity of biscuits from well-known brands with altered packaging and stickers.
The accused have been identified as Kamal Mudgil (56), Shivam Singh (27), and Lokesh Kumar (35). The operation was carried out by the crime branch of the Delhi Police, as stated in a press release.
"On March 29, information was received that some individuals were running an illegal operation in the Bamnoli village of Dwarka, where expired or near-expiry food and beverage items from multinational brands were being tampered with and reintroduced into the market," the statement read.
Acting on this information, police conducted a raid at a warehouse in Dwarka, Sector-28, where they recovered a large quantity of soft drinks and packaged food items stored within the premises.
Shivam Singh and Lokesh Kumar, who were present at the scene, were apprehended. During questioning, the two revealed that they were working under the instructions of Kamal Mudgil, the owner of the illegal operation and the source of all the goods. Mudgil also arrived at the scene shortly after and was also apprehended, as stated in the release.
Police said that officials from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) were called to the scene to verify the firm's licenses and collect samples. After inspection, food products bearing forged batch numbers and expiry dates were seized.
The team also recovered a printing machine used for printing forged manufacturing and expiry dates, as well as chemicals used to erase original markings on the products.
"During interrogation, the accused revealed that they procured expired or near-expiry products from the market, erased the original manufacturing dates, expiry dates, and batch numbers using chemicals, and then printed new dates using the machine," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Harsh Indora said in a statement.
The products were then repackaged in cartons and supplied to the market.
A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway, the police added.
