Hyderabad: A 31-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday, March 25, for allegedly manufacturing and selling adulterated coconut powder out of a shop in Begum Bazar, with police seizing over eight tonne of substandard stock and equipment worth Rs 21 lakh.

The accused, Nakoul Marotiyaa, was nabbed during a joint raid by the Commissioner’s Task Force (Golconda and Khairtabad zones), the H-Fast team and the Goshamahal Police at his shop, Balaji Purushotham Coconut Business.

According to the police, Marotiyaa was procuring low-grade loose coconut powder from Karnataka at cheap rates, repackaging it under the “Chetak” brand and passing it off as a genuine product to unsuspecting customers. The packets bore no batch numbers, expiry dates, valid licences or food safety certifications, investigators said.

Seized from the premises were 8,300 kg of adulterated coconut powder, three packing machines, three weighing machines and 400 packing covers of 200-gram capacity.

A case has been registered under sections 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 274 (adulteration of food or drink intended for sale)of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as Section 57(ii) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, at the Goshamahal Police Station.