Thane: Rs 4.82 lakh-worth food items manufactured using fake FSSAI licence seized; four booked

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Police have seized a stock of food items, including different edible oils, worth Rs 4.82 lakh from a godown in Thane district of Maharashtra, after it was found to have been manufactured and stored allegedly using a fake licence, an official told news agency PTI on Saturday.

The authorities conducted a raid at the godown located at Daighar on Thursday, and a case was registered against its four owners, he said.

"A leading manufacturer of asafoetida approached the police with a complaint that the accused were manufacturing the products with a fake licence. After that, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) officials raided the godown," the official of Shil-Daighar police station told PTI.

The FDA and police authorities seized various products, including compounded asafoetida, edible gum, mustard oil, cotton seed refined oil, refined rice bran oil along with some brown liquid. They used a fake licence of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to manufacture the products, he said.

The value of the seized goods is Rs 4,82,500, he said.

A case was registered against the four owners of the godown under various sections of the Food Safety and Standards Act and also under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention), the police told PTI.

The four accused are identified as Mahesh Sheth, Abhishek Tripathi, Anil Yadav and Mohaziddin Mohammad Iqbal Memon, they said.

Earlier, Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday carried out a surprise inspection at a well-known sweet shop in Thane city and ordered its immediate closure after detecting a number of lapses in its operations, the District Information Office said.

An official release of the District Information Office said the inspection was carried out by a team of officials lead by FDA Assistant Commissioner (Food) VV Vedphatak.

The team found several lapses in the shop's operations and violation of permit and licence norms, and ordered its immediate closure.

The shop was found to be manufacturing sweets and 'farsan' (salty snacks) without due permission from the FDA, said the release.

The outlet had not taken any precautions with regards to food items being sold by it and their consumption may adversely affect health of customers, it said, adding that under the prevailing FDA regulations the shop can be fined Rs 2 lakh.

(With inputs from PTI)