Factory selling fake salt under popular brand name busted in Nuh

The salt being sold was not refined and was the salt that is used on dead animals to decompose their bodies easily, said a member of the company’s legal team

The Nuh Police on Wednesday busted a factory for manufacturing and selling counterfeit salt in the name of a major brand, officers aware of the matter said, adding that six suspects, including a factory employee, were arrested. The factory, located on the Punhana-Jamalgarh Road in Nuh, had sold salt worth crores of rupees in the past three years, said investigators.

Police recovered 5.5 quintals of counterfeit salt from the factory, and hundreds of packets of washing powder of several prominent brands. (HT Photo)

The police said that they were informed about the illegal factory by the Speed Search and Security Networks Pvt Ltd, a legal company working for a major salt manufacturing company. The company filed a police complaint saying that an illegal factory was manufacturing and selling more than 5,000 kilograms of Tata salt in local markets and grocery stores in the Nuh district per month, said investigators.

Nikhil Thakur, field manager of the legal team of Speed Search and Security Networks, said that their field officer reported that fake salt was being sold and supplied in Nuh district. “We conducted an internal inquiry and took a few samples to check the quality, but we were shocked with the outcome. The salt that was being sold was not refined and was the salt that is used on dead animals to decompose their bodies easily,” he said.

He said that the suspects were selling one packet of salt for ₹17, and it used to cost them ₹4. “Our salt is sold for ₹28, but the suspects were offering discounts to capture the market. Since people are scared to visit villages in Nuh, the suspects took advantage of the situation,” he said. The company’s team conducted a survey and collected salt packets from at least 20 shops in Punhana.

Following the complaint, a police team conducted raids at the factory and six grocery shops on Jamalgarh road. “The factory owner has been identified and raids are being conducted to arrest him. He was supplying fake salt to the shopkeepers, who were selling it despite knowing that it was not genuine,” said Narender Bijarniya, superintendent of police of Nuh.

Bijarniya added that hundreds of packets of washing powder of several prominent brands were also recovered from the factory.

A case under sections 63 and 65 of the copyright act 1957 and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Punhana police station.