NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police busted a fake ghee manufacturing unit in Outer Delhi's Bawana and arrested five men, officials said on Saturday.
Those arrested have been identified as Sandeep, Akash, Ratan, Rohit and Ankesh, they said.
The accused started the manufacturing unit before the lockdown began as they had lost their jobs.
They manufactured ghee using oil, chemical-based colourants, essence and other chemicals, the police said.
Sandeep owned the unit and had employed the other accused, who are his friends, to help him, a senior police officer said.
The accused were selling the fake ghee in different parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, he said.
A raid was carried out at the manufacturing unit on Friday based on specific inputs, the officer said.
Investigation revealed that Sandeep and his friends bought the raw material for making the fake ghee from nearby stores. They would put labels of local brands on the packing of their ghee to cheat retailers, he said.
Samples have been collected by the Food Safety department and will be examined for harmful substances, the officer said.
A case has been registered against the accused of cheating, adulteration of food, and sale of noxious food, he added.
A total of 284 cartons of ghee, 212 tins of substandard cooking oil, 149 empty tins of Dalda ghee, ghee-flavored essence, chemical colors, 600 empty tins, and tools were recovered from the manufacturing unit during the raid, the police said.