Police bust gang making fake ‘zeera’, FIR against 7

Lucknow Police busted a gang that used to make fake cumin seeds using pieces of coconut broom, molasses, grass and stone powder in Maharajganj area of Rae Bareli

Lucknow Police busted a gang that used to make fake cumin seeds using pieces of coconut broom, molasses, grass and stone powder in Maharajganj area of Rae Bareli on Sunday.

Sacks of fake zeera seized by the police in Rae Bareli on Sunday.

An FIR has been lodged against seven people and a probe has been initiated, police said.

The cops recovered 30,000 kg of fake ‘cumin seeds’ that was to be transported to different cities in the state after being mixed with real cumin. The stock, officials claimed, could have been sold for ₹6 million in the market.

Maharjganj deputy superintendent of police Vineet Singh said, “The fake cumin seeds were recovered during a raid at a makeshift jaggery plant in Maharganj area of the district. The fake cumin seeds were mixed with real cumin seeds in 80:20 ratio, before being sold to different traders.”

The accused used to purchase grass to make the broom that was cut to cumin seed-sized pieces. It was then mixed with hot molasses and dried to give it the appearance of real cumin seeds. “Once dried, the fake cumin seeds were then mixed with small portions of real cumin and sold in the market,” said the officer.

Investigation in the case began following a similar bust by Delhi Police last month. “After the bust in Delhi, we came to know that some people in Maharjganj used to buy the grass used to make brooms but were not involved in broom-making. This raised suspicion and when our teams followed up on them, they turned out to be a gang involved in making fake cumin seeds,” Singh said.

The gang members use to earn 50 to 60 times more profits by selling fake cumin seeds and are believed to have been in operation for more than a year, he said.

The police have booked Prashant Sadu, Kamlesh Maurya, Pankaj Verma, Indrajeet, Pavan Gupta, Rajendra Prasad and Chotelal, all residents of Maharajaganj area in the incident. “The accused have been booked under section 419 (cheating), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 272 (adulteration of food and drink intended for sale), 273 (sale of noxious food and drink) of the IPC. The accused are absconding and two police teams are on the lookout to arrest them,” said the officer.