Fake ghee factory busted in UP, 3 held

In a major crackdown on food adulteration racket, the police on Sunday busted a fake ghee factory at Bana Devi area here and arrested three people in connection with the case.

Huge quantities of fake ghee packets, which included prominent dairy brands such as Amul, Paras, Madhusudan, Sanskar, Madhav and Namchand, were recovered.

One of the accused told ANI, "A combination of dalda (vegetable ghee), refined oil and essences were used to make 'desi ghee'. We used to sell them to nearby cities and earn huge profits."

District Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajesh Kumar Pandey said, "The trio got wrappers of all prominent brands. Along with this, materials like chemicals, refined oil, dalda, colour and mud have been recovered."

"In the market, branded ghee costs around Rs. 500-600. But, these people forged an alliance with the local and wholesale traders and used to sell off the fake ghee at a cheaper price. Both the trio and the traders earned a lot of profit," Pandey explained.

Adding that fake ghee used to reach individuals' home in the form of poison, he further said, "We collected samples when we discovered these (fake ghee) packets. The samples have been sent to the lab for investigation. Strict action will be taken against the accused after the results of the samples are out.