8.5 quintals of spurious ‘khoya’ seized from Hisar warehouse

The Chief Minister Flying Squad of the Hisar range today seized about 8.55 quintals of fake ‘mawa’ (khoya) during a raid at an illegal warehouse operating out of a house in Dhani Shyam Lal in the town.

Flying squad in-charge Sunaina said the mawa — processed milk product — was stored under unhygienic conditions amid dirty water in a fridge and was emitting a foul smell.

The team detained one person, identified as Mahavir, a resident of Churu in Rajasthan.

He reportedly confessed that ‘mawa’ was spurious and had been supplied to many well-known shops in the town, including Bikaner Sweets, as well as to shopkeepers in Barwala and Uklana towns of the district.

Sources said the supplier used to sell the ‘mawa’ cheaply at the rate of Rs 150 per kg, while the genuine milk product was priced around Rs 500 per kg.

Shop owners used to sell the spurious ‘mawa’ as pure to customers at the rate of Rs 500 per kg.

The sources added that in the festival season, especially on Raksha Bandhan and Teej, 35 quintals of ‘mawa’ is supplied in two quality grades — “super”, which is sold at Rs 250 per kg and “low”, which is priced at Rs 150 per kg.

Mahavir said he brought the ‘mawa’ from Bikaner and stocked it in Hisar for his employer, who is a resident of Bikaner and was arrested on similar charge earlier, but got bail. A ledger seized from the godown listed all shops to which the ‘mawa’ was supplied.

CM Flying Squad in-charge Sunaina said a large quantity of ‘mawa’ was supplied for making ‘ghevar’ (a seasonal sweet) during Teej festival and to many sweetshop owners in several towns, who resold it at Rs 500 per kg to customers.

Sunaina said Mahavir could not produce documents for the warehouse, confirming that it was entirely illegal.

Food Safety Officer Dr Pawan Chahal said the flying squad had tipped them off, leading to the raid. He said they had collected four samples and further action will be taken after the lab report is received.