Chhattisgarh: Police seize TMT bars with 'duplicate' SAIL mark

Chhattisgarh police had seized a huge quantity of TMT bars carrying mark of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) from a yard located at the outskirts of Raipur city.

"Acting on a tip off, the police team raided the yard on the ring road and recovered 28 tonnes of TMT bars that had been carrying SAIL seal," Vinod Thakur, the investigating police official said. The owner of the yard could not produce the valid documents of the TMT bars that were stocked in his yard.

The police have arrested the yard owner identified as Jagdish Singh, the police officer said. The police team have been investigating the matter so as to establish whether the accused has been using the TMT bars theft from the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) - the flagship entity of the SAIL or the company's seal used on the product was fake.
 

Last year, the Raipur Police had exposed two iron factories based in Gudhiyari and Urla area involved in making substandard TMT bars with duplicate mark of SAIL stamped on it. About 700 tonnes of duplicate TMT bars worth Rs 2 crore were seized from the factory, police claimed.

A high level enquiry was conducted into the incident. Even the senior SAIL officials probed the matter as the company's fake mark was used by the accused to sell the TMT bars with branded name.

The steel plant in Bhilai is located just 40 km from the Chhattisgarh capital and the bars theft from the plant is normally consumed here illegally.