SAMBALPUR: Police busted a fake detergent powder manufacturing unit at Nuapada in Ainthapali on Saturday night and arrested two persons in this connection.The accused are Naresh Agarwal and Ashish Agarwal of Aithapali. The duo was involved in making fake ‘Surf Excel’ detergent powder that is manufactured by Hinudstan Unilever Limited (HUL).
Police said on the basis of a complaint filed by HUL officials regarding sale of fake detergent packets by some traders in Sambalpur town, a special team was formed and raided multiple business establishments in Khetrajpur wholesale market. During the raid, 502 Surf Excel packets of 90 gm each were seized from the store of Naresh.
During interrogation, the trader revealed that he brought the packets from another businessman Ashish who happens to be a wholesaler of HUL products. The police team then raided Ashish’s godown and found 5,280 Surf Excel packets and a large quantity of unpacked detergent powder.
Sources said following complaints from a few customers regarding the quality of Surf Excel, HUL officials visited Sambalpur and bought the detergent packets from different shops in the city disguised as customers. After getting the samples tested, they found the detergent to be spurious and lodged a complaint with police in this regard.
Police said while the seized detergent samples have been sent for testing, the two accused were booked under Sections 420, 486 and 488 of the IPC besides Section 63 of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. The duo was produced in court on Sunday.