The Delhi Police on Tuesday said that a fake cumin manufacturing factory was busted in Bawana and five persons have been arrested in connection with the case.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Gaurav Sharma said that the accused have been identified as Harinandan, Kamran alias Kammu, Ganga Prasad, Harish and Pawan, all residents of Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
The police said they received information on Monday about manufacturing of fake cumin in Bawana. The information was shared with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). A team was constituted comprising policemen and two officials from the food safety authority.
“A raid was conducted in Pooth Khurd and it was found that some people were manufacturing fake cumin with the help of grass, stone powder and sheera (jaggery residue). FSSAI officials have taken samples of the fake cumin,” Mr. Sharma said, adding that a case under relevant sections has been lodged.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly told the police that they learned to manufacture fake cumin from people in their hometown.
“The manufacturing process involves a special type of grass being mixed with Sheera... then stone powder is mixed in and the material resembles cumin,” the officer said.
The police said that Harinandan and another identified accused who is at large are the masterminds behind the operation. The other four are labourers.
Mr. Sharma said that the accused used to procure raw material from Rajasthan and would sell the finished product in U.P. and Rajasthan. “Now the accused persons were trying to run their illegal business here in Delhi and they had taken a warehouse on rent in August,” he said.
The police said that the price of cumin in the market is ₹400 per kg but they used to sell their product for ₹20 per kg. The police claim to have recovered 19,400 kg of fake cumin and 8,075 kg of raw material.
