Five held in Delhi for manufacturing fake cumin

Five men have been arrested for allegedly manufacturing fake cumin from stone powder and sheera in Bawana area, police said on Tuesday.

Harinandan, Kamran, Ganga Prasad, Harish and Pawan, all natives of Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, used to mix fake cumin with the original in 80:20 proportion.

They used to sell the cumin at Rs 20 per kg, whereas the market value of genuine cumin is around Rs 400 per kg, a police official said.

Around 20,000 kilogram of fake cumin along with 5,250 kg stone powder, 1,600 kg grass and 1,225 kg sheera were seized from the arrested accused, they said.

"Police got a tip-off regarding the fake cumin factory, following which a raid was conducted along with officials of FSSAI, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Gaurav Sharma said.

Harinandan and one absconding accused are the main conspirators and the other four arrested are labourers. They used to purchase raw material from Rajasthan and sold fake cumin in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the police official said.