Food adulteration racket busted, two nabbed

CUTTACK: Cuttack district police on Tuesday busted a massive food adulteration racket operating from Tangi and nabbed two persons while seizing spurious raw materials, empty packs and pouches of reputed companies.  The products included skimmed milk powder, dairy whiteners, baby food items, desi ghee, pickles, detergents, soap bars along with other edibles and consumables. The extent of the racket and the entire range of products being adulterated from the unit is being verified as the police investigators are continuing with their examination of the seized materials. The seized materials are estimated to be to the tune of ` 8-10 lakh, police said. The arrested are Chabindra Nayak of Tangi, who was the owner of the unit and Prabhat Nath, a storekeeper with OriClean detergent and soaps manufacturing unit in the area. The co-owner of the illicit unit Hrushikesh Nayak, however, has managed to give the police the slip. Tangi police, in fact, stumbled upon the illicit activity while investigating a complaint on theft of packet rolls from the Oriclean factory recently. They raided the sheds taken up by the Nayak duo in the name of Tarini Traders. They put a front of being distributors of different FMCG products of reputed companies.  When the sheds were searched, they came across a virtual minefield of adulteration. “We have recovered empty unused packets and pouches of milk powders and baby food as Amul Spray, Amulya, Dairy Milk, Durga brand desi ghee, detergent pouches and soap covers of Wheel, talcum powder like Ponds, Nycil, pickles, biscuits.  Raw materials like synthetic powders, colours and fragrances have been seized from the spot,” IIC Tangi Sunil Mohanty said. The packets and pouches were new and original in look and feel. The two were heavily into adulterating the stuff and supplying the hazardous substances to the market. “We are now going deep into the supply chain to determine the extent of reach of the adulterated items,” Mohanty added. Four rolls of  wheel pouches were stolen from OriClean with the help of the storekeeper Prabhat Nayak. They were carried in a pick-up van to the sheds which have also been seized, police said. A case has been registered in the connection and hunt for Hrushikesh is on.