3 held as cops bust fake NCERT book racket, 44k books seized

Investigators said the factory was supplying fake books to co-accused, who handled storage and distribution of the books across states.

The Delhi Police Crime Branch has busted a gang, arresting three people, involved in printing and supplying counterfeit NCERT textbooks, said police on Sunday.

3 held as cops bust fake NCERT book racket, 44k books seized

The accused, identified as Sumit (35), Vinod Jain (65) and Kanishq (32), are believed to have been involved in major counterfeit book trade, police said, adding that 44, 864 books were seized.

The racket operated through a chain of godowns and illegal printing units that supplied pirated textbooks to markets across multiple states, police added. On November 10 last year, police received information about a godown in Daryaganj, a major wholesale book hub, where counterfeit NCERT books were being stored and sold.

Acting on a tip-off, a crime branch team, along with authorised NCERT representatives, conducted a raid and recovered 12,755 pirated books. An FIR was registered under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Copyright Act.

DCP (Crime) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said that the team traced the source of the books to an illegal printing factory in Loni, Ghaziabad. “A raid was conducted on Friday. We held the owner of the printing press, Sumit, and recovered 32,107 duplicate NCERT books. We also seized printing machinery and raw materials used to manufacture counterfeit textbooks”

Investigators said the factory was supplying fake books to co-accused, who handled storage and distribution of the books across states. Jain had earlier been booked in a similar book piracy case in 2023.

Police added that Jain was also linked to a case in which a father-son duo were held and 1.6 lakhs NCERT books worth over ₹2 crores were seized in Hiranki in May last year.

The DCP said a total of 44,862 fake NCERT books, two offset printing press machines, large quantities of paper reels, printing ink and aluminium plates, collectively worth around ₹2 crores were seized during the raids conducted in Delhi and Ghaziabad.

“The action is a part of our sustained effort to dismantle nationwide networks involved in academic piracy and protect the integrity of the education system. Further investigation is underway to trace the wider supply chain and identify other beneficiaries of the racket.,” he said.