Two held for selling counterfeit versions of branded clothes online

The police arrested a man and a woman in Gurugram Sector 12 on Friday for allegedly selling fake versions of branded clothes online, after attaching tags of various popular brands

Published on: Mar 5, 2021, 23:29:01 IST

By Leena Dhankhar, Gurugram

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The police arrested a man and a woman in Gurugram Sector 12 on Friday for allegedly selling fake versions of branded clothes online, after attaching tags of various popular brands.

The suspects had registered a private company and shared their catalogue on social media to attract retailers with lucrative offers, the police said.

Commissioner of police KK Rao said, “Shopkeepers from across India used to approach them for their branded apparel. Their sale in the past one year has been to the tune of ₹1.5 crore, while other industries have been suffering huge losses due to Covid-19 pandemic.”

Rao said they had a wide network and extensive marketing teams to promote their apparels through social media platforms.

Police and anti-counterfeiting agency Brand Protectors India allegedly seized 1,000 pieces of shirts, jeans, tags and labels during a raid in a building on Sheetla Mata Road in Sector 12 on Friday afternoon.

Both the suspects — the company directors — were arrested for selling counterfeit branded apparel, the police said. The suspects were identified as Lakshmi Jha and Umakant Sharma of U3S traders.

The police team has allegedly unearthed a large network of distributorship and online marketing of counterfeit apparel.

During a market survey, the anti-counterfeiting agency discovered that an online wholesaler was allegedly engaged in the sale and distribution through all social media platforms of duplicate apparels of popular brands.

Dhirendra Singh, Director, Brand Protectors India Private Limited, said they mapped the areas where the duplicate apparels were kept for sale and distribution by the suspects.

“The suspects had earned nearly ₹2 crore in the last one-and-a-half years, and this was proved by their bank account statements recovered by the police during the raid. They had a Pan India network of over 300 retailers who source duplicate branded garments from U3S. The records were seized to establish the claims,” he said.

A case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 63 was registered at the Sector 14 police station on Friday, the police said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leena Dhankhar
Leena Dhankhar is Senior Editor and Bureau Chief, Gurugram, at Hindustan Times, where she has spent over 17 years chronicling the transformation of one of India's fastest-growing urban regions. From starting her career as a crime reporter to leading the Gurugram bureau, her journalism has been defined by investigative reporting, in-depth storytelling and an unwavering focus on public interest. Over nearly two decades, she has reported extensively across crime, politics, civic governance, elections, real estate, environment, courts, sports, education and entertainment, covering Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh and Palwal. Her reporting has exposed several major scams and systemic failures, including insurance frauds, waste management irregularities, illegal arms manufacturing units in Nuh, illegal mining in the Aravallis, organised crime networks and governance lapses affecting millions of residents. Known for her investigative work and exclusive stories, Leena has reported on high-impact national issues, including the Nicaragua charter flight carrying Indian migrants that was turned back amid allegations of human trafficking, exposing the growing network of illegal immigration rackets. Her work has also focused on gang wars, prison administration, juvenile crime, women and child protection systems, the functioning of the Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee, and environmental challenges such as pollution, waterlogging and deteriorating civic infrastructure. Beyond hard news, Leena has extensively documented Haryana's rich heritage, forests and wildlife, bringing attention to the state's historical landmarks, biodiversity, conservation efforts and ecological challenges through immersive reportage and feature writing. Her journalism has consistently gone beyond breaking news. She has documented Gurugram's rapid urbanisation through long-form narratives and enterprise reporting on issues ranging from pothole-ridden roads, flooding and waste management to the changing social fabric of India's Millennium City. She also writes widely read feature columns, including The Outsider, Changemaker, and Concern for Gurugram, profiling people, places and ideas shaping the city's identity. Leena is the author of Gurugram School Murder, published by Juggernaut Books, a deeply reported account of one of India's most high-profile school murder investigations. She is currently working on her second book, an investigative work exploring some of India's most significant scams and fraud investigations. Beyond print journalism, she has expanded her storytelling through public speaking and digital media. She is a TEDx speaker and has produced podcasts exploring Gurugram's transformation, civic challenges and untold stories. Her work reflects a commitment to narrative journalism that combines rigorous reporting with compelling storytelling. A law graduate with an MBA in Human Resources, Leena brings a multidisciplinary perspective to her reporting, particularly on governance, public policy and legal affairs. She has travelled extensively across India to pursue investigative assignments, often reporting from remote locations and conflict-prone areas in search of stories that matter.Read More