Police bust racket selling expired, misbranded food products; kingpin arrested

NEw new delhi, law busted a racquet mired in the sales agreement of expired and misbranded consumable products of reputed brands and arrested the alleged kingpin, officials said on Thursday.During the raid, the police recovered a large quantity of food items, including chocolates worth several lakhs of rupees, police said on Thursday.The arrested accused has been identified as Atul Jalan , a businessman and a resident of Tri Nagar, who allegedly procured near-expiry or expired products of well-known brands at throwaway prices through middlemen, mainly from Mumbai.Police said he then tampered with expiry dates, manufacturing details, MRP and batch numbers and sold the products online and through physical outlets at discounted rates, luring customers with lucrative offers.The action was taken on a complaint filed by the Central Licensing Authority of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India , after which an FIR was registered at the Crime Branch police station under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, they said.During the investigation, multiple premises linked to the accused were searched and sealed in Tri Nagar, Bhikaji Cama Place and Moti Nagar areas of Delhi.Photography and videography of the premises were conducted, and food samples were seized with the assistance of FSSAI officials, police said.Laboratory examination of the seized samples revealed that several food items were misbranded in violation of packaging and labelling regulations, while some were found to be substandard, particularly with regard to prescribed fat content, a senior police officer said.During verification, The Hershey Company confirmed that while the products seized were genuine, their labels had been tampered with to make expired items appear fit for consumption, police said.Investigators also found that an invoice produced by the accused for the procurement of chocolate products was forged, as the issuing firm denied generating any such bill.Further probe revealed that expired products were allegedly diverted from authorised supply chains through intermediaries and waste management entities, officials said.Police recovered articles of a branded chocolate company worth around ₹6 lakh and other branded consumable products valued at approximately ₹50 lakh during the operation.Further investigation is underway to identify and take action against other associates involved in the racket, police said.This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.