Delhi Police busts racket repackaging and selling expired soft drinks, biscuits; 3 held

New Delhi: Everyday consumer products such as soft drinks and biscuits were allegedly sold in the city long after their expiry dates, posing a serious risk to public health.

Delhi Police busted an illegal operation running out of a godown in Dwarka, where expired and near-expiry food items of multinational brands were allegedly repackaged and circulated in the market with forged manufacturing and expiry dates.

Acting on a tip-off received on March 29, police raided a godown in Bamnoli village and seized a large consignment of soft drinks and packaged food items. Two men found at the spot — Shivam Singh, 27, and Lokesh Kumar, 35 — were apprehended.

During interrogation, the duo told police they were acting on the instructions of Kamal Mudgil, 56, the owner of the firm. Mudgil later arrived at the godown and was taken into custody, taking the total arrests to three.

Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Harsh Indora said officers from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) were called to the spot to verify the firm’s licences and collect samples for testing. “All food products found with forged batch numbers and altered expiry dates were seized,” he said.

The seized stock included large quantities of popular soft drink brands — 115 boxes of soft drink cans — along with branded biscuits bearing tampered packaging and stickers.

Police said the accused allegedly procured expired or near-expiry food products, altered their labels to extend shelf life and sold them in the local market or exported them.

In a separate operation, police arrested six people involved in a large-scale counterfeit toothpaste racket in Outer Delhi’s Kanjhawala area.

The accused were allegedly filling unhygienic local or raw paste into empty tubes of a reputed brand, sealing them using machines, packing them into cartons and selling them as genuine products.

The raid was conducted at a godown in C-Block, Mahaveer Vihar, where police seized a huge quantity of fake toothpaste, both filled and empty tubes, cardboard cartons, tube-filling and sealing machines, and other equipment. The main accused was also apprehended.

Police said further investigation is underway to identify supply chains and distribution networks linked to both cases.