Fake desi ghee traders cashed in on every festival well. Took full advantage of the reputation of 18 well-known brands including Amul, Patanjali, Real Gold. Fake ghee was sold by packaging it as a high-selling brand in the region. Fake ghee worth about Rs 10 crore was sold in two years. During the investigation, the police have found evidence of sales worth Rs 1.18 crore.

Fake ghee traders opened a factory in Maruti Pravasam Colony at Kahrai Mod in the year 2022. Three warehouses were rented for this. For the first time, fake ghee was sent to Bajrang Traders on 10 December 2022. Investigation revealed that fake ghee worth Rs 43 lakh had been sent to Bajrang Traders by November 8, 2024. Manager Rajesh Bhardwaj kept an eye so that no type of ghee could be identified. Copies of all the bills were found from the warehouse.

Report will come in 14 days

Assistant Commissioner Food Shashank Tripathi said that 13 samples of fake desi ghee have been taken. It has been sent to the laboratory for investigation. The report will come in 14 days.

15 kg tins were purchased from junk dealers

Empty tins were also purchased by Rajesh Bhardwaj and others. Investigation revealed that tins were purchased from junk dealers. One tin used to weigh 15 kg. After removing the label, a new label of a different brand was put on it. Let us tell you that complaints used to come regarding fake desi ghee. However, they were not taken cognizance of by the officials. Fake ghee dealers continued to take advantage of this.

Copies of their bills were found

Akshay Traders got 1.91 lakh on April 2024 and Shyam Traders got 1.52 lakh, Anant Kumar and Satish Kumar Jammu got a total of 13.47 lakh on other dates including March 11, 2024, Nagchandra Jammu got two lakhs on March 8, 2024, Vibhu Agency Gonda got 1.28 lakh, Goyal Traders Meerut got 6.34 lakh, New Traders got 2.78 lakh and Anil Traders Prayagraj got 1.41 lakh, Om Agencies Shahjahanpur got 35 thousand, Gokul Company Bihar got 89 thousand, Om Trading Udaipur Rajasthan got one lakh rupees.

The factory was running for six months

A fake desi ghee factory was running at Kahrai turn in the city for six months. The factory operated in one bigha had three big warehouses. 350 kg of ghee was prepared every day. It cost Rs 170 to make one kg of ghee and it was sold in the market for Rs 600. The network of the gang is spread in seven states including Uttar Pradesh, Jammu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh. There was no registration in Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) also. Only the registration number of Gwalior's Food Department was mentioned on the packaging of fake ghee.

The action went on for five hours

Even after this, FSDA officials did not get a clue about it. On Thursday, the action went on for five hours in the factory located at Kahrai Mod. Agra has become a hub for making fake and adulterated ghee. Fake ghee has been recovered in Vijay Nagar Colony, Trans Yamuna, Shastripuram, Sikandra, Runakta and other areas. The fake Desi Ghee factory in Maruti Pravasam located at Kahrai Mod did not open in a day.

There are many factories in Gwalior too

Neeraj Agarwal, Brajesh started its preparations a year ago. Neeraj also has many factories in Gwalior, in which Desi Ghee and other items are made. Six months ago, machines were brought one after the other and refined and other items were started to be ordered. Neeraj hired three employees from Gwalior. These include Shiv Charan, Ravi, Bhaskar Gautam and Sagar resident Dharmendra Singh.

The factory is divided into three parts

During interrogation, the employees told that the factory is divided into three parts. Machines are kept in one of them and empty canisters of ghee made in the remaining two warehouses are kept. The quantity of ghee was written on a slip. The manager used to give this information. Every day 350 kg of fake ghee was prepared in the factory. Essence and BR oil are mixed in refined to make fake ghee. Palm oil sold for Rs 100 was used.

Desi ghee tadka was added to bring fragrance

Along with this, pure desi ghee tadka was added to the fake ghee to bring fragrance. Fake ghee was prepared and kept in 15 kg tins and sold on demand in any state or region. Assistant Commissioner Food Shashank Tripathi told that one kg of fake ghee was prepared for Rs 150 and sold for Rs 600. No one could suspect anything because it had the label of a well-known brand. It was easily sold.