E-Paper
Cops: Mysuru couple held for running fake Nandhini ghee racket
A Mysuru couple was arrested for running a counterfeit Nandhini ghee racket, linked to a larger operation distributing fake products statewide.
A couple from Mysuru suspected of allegedly being at the centre of a large-scale counterfeit Nandhini ghee racket that produced and distributed fake batches of the ghee across the state were arrested on Wednesday, officers with the central crime branch (CCB) said.
The accused, identified as Shivakumar (45) and his wife, Ramya (40), were arrested as part of a larger operation that witnessed its last major development when CCB officers raided a storage facility in Chamarajpet on November 14 and seized 8,136 litres of counterfeit ghee, said officers, adding that four arrests were made at the time, which included the accused distributor, Mahendra, his son, Deepak, and another accused named Muniraju.
Officers added that the investigation’s findings indicated that the Mysuru couple allegedly supplied the batches that Mahendra’s group were moving through retail and wholesale channels.
CCB DCP Sriharibabu said investigators had traced the manufacturing setup to a site in Tamil Nadu. “During searches in Tamil Nadu we located a fully equipped clandestine factory where high-tech machines were being used to produce, refill and label adulterated ghee under the Nandhini brand,” he said.
He added that samples recovered from the site would be sent for forensic analysis to determine what substances were being mixed into the product.
Police have also frozen about ₹60 lakh held in accounts linked to the couple. “We have provisionally attached about ₹60 lakh from their accounts and will move forward with legal measures,” the DCP said.
Records reviewed by investigators suggest the pair had been involved in a similar case in Mysuru, raising concerns that the network may have operated over a longer period. Sriharibabu said officers were working to establish the scale of the distribution chain. “Our priority is to identify all members of the supply chain and determine how widely these counterfeit products were circulated,” he said. He added that investigators were also examining whether any of the consignments had been shipped out of the state.
The inquiry has since widened to multiple districts, after evidence indicated that the fake ghee was being sold at various parlors and retail outlets, officers said.
