Hyderabad raid finds Rs 32 lakh worth spurious tea, shampoo, coconut oil: 4 held

The Hyderabad police nabbed four men on Monday for manufacturing and selling fake versions of popular brands of tea, hair oil, shampoos and detergents worth Rs 32 lakh. The city police task force wing raided a godown at Hindi Nagar, Goshamahal and apprehended its owner and workers. Raids were conducted on manufacturing units at Jeedimetla, Medchal district and Charlapally, based on leads from the godown owner. Police discovered spurious tea powders being packaged and sold under popular brands like Chakra gold, Red Label and 3 Roses. Fake coconut oil was being packaged in 175 ml bottles bearing the Parachute brand. Police also found phony detergent powders being sold as well-known brands, including Tide, Ariel and Surf. Fake shampoos under brand names like Head and Shoulders, Clinic plus and Sunsilk were also found, as well as bogus Vim dishwashing liquids. Pankaj Purohit, Rakesh Jain, Mahaveer Jain and Gewar, the four accused in the case, have been taken into custody in Hyderabad. Two of the accused from Delhi, Mishra and RK Gupta, are absconding. For the last five years, Purohit has been a supplier in the Begum Bazar area. He met Rakesh, a scrap collector, and decided to earn more money by manufacturing and selling fake tea powder, police say. Upon investigation, Purohit, a Goshamahal resident, confessed to the crime. Rakesh set up the manufacturing unit at his scrap shop at Jeedimetla and procured duplicate packets of popular tea brands from Mishra in Delhi. Rakesh acquired loose tea powder from Begum Bazar, packaged them at his shop and supplied the fake products to Purohit. They rented a godown at Hindi Nagar and appointed Gewar Ram to supply the goods to retail outlets. Six months ago, the duo expanded their illegal business operations to include coconut oil through Rakesh's relative Mahaveer Jain, who ran a spurious oil manufacturing unit at Charlapally. A case has been registered at Begum Bazar police station.