Ahead of Diwali, 2,600 litres of adulterated ghee seized

The Delhi Police have seized more than 2,600 litres of adulterated ghee in the national capital and nearby Haryana and arrested two alleged manufacturers, the police said on Wednesday.

The adulterated ghee was packaged under labels of several popular brands, an officer said. The police seized a total of 2,651 litres of spurious ghee. Of this, 2,241 litres were seized from a godown in northwest Delhi’s Budh Vihar, owned by Rakesh Garg (38), while another 410 litres were recovered from Jind in Haryana from a godown belonging to Mukesh, another manufacturer.

The Jind unit has been sealed, and a case has been registered against the alleged manufacturers at the Crime Branch police station.

The spurious ghee was supposed to cater to the increased demand for the ingredient in the run-up to Diwali and other festivals.

According to the police, the suspects allegedly mixed low-quality ‘vanaspati ghee’ and refined oil to mimic pure ghee, using chemical-based flavouring agents, synthetic colours and other unsafe substances in the product.

“The adulterated product was then packed in containers of reputed brands and sold to local distributors, dairies and retail outlets at wholesale rates,” the officer said.

The police said the accused disclosed that the cost of producing adulterated ghee was around Rs 200 per litre, while they sold it for approximately Rs 350 to wholesalers.

The Food Safety Department of the Delhi government was involved in the raids. “Garg has allegedly been involved in the illegal trade for the past two years, expanding operations to a larger scale recently. Mukesh, who operated the manufacturing unit, was supplying adulterated ghee across Haryana and Delhi-NCR,” the officer said.