Kendujhar: Police have busted a large-scale racket involved in the manufacture and supply of counterfeit Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) in Badabil and arrested four persons, including the alleged mastermind, an official said on Monday.
The accused allegedly manufactured fake DEF under reputed brand names such as Tata and Gulf and supplied it to shops and industrial areas in Badabil and adjoining regions, besides neighbouring states, Badabil SDPO Debendranath Pingua said at a press conference.
Acting on a complaint lodged by Sani Ghosh, an authorised official of Tata brand, regarding the sale of counterfeit DEF in Badabil, police conducted raids at several locations and seized fake DEF buckets from Jay Shree Shyam Lubricants in Badabil, Ujala Motors in Kasia and a shop owned by Basant Kumar Prusti in Bhadrasahi.
During further investigation, police apprehended alleged mastermind Srikant Hota and an associate on Sunday while they were transporting 50 buckets of counterfeit DEF in a pickup vehicle for supply.
Interrogation revealed that Hota was allegedly operating a fake DEF manufacturing unit at Sadashivpur in Dhenkanal with the help of technical workers brought from Rajasthan. The counterfeit product was prepared, packed and fitted with fake holograms of reputed brands before being supplied to different locations.
Following the information, two special teams formed on the direction of Keonjhar SP raided the factory in Sadashivpur. Police seized an empty tanker with a capacity of 1,000 litres of fake DEF, a filter machine, fake holograms and other materials used in the operation.
Police also seized 182 buckets of fake urea/DEF, ₹25,000 in cash, an SUV and a pickup vehicle during the investigation.
The arrested persons have been identified as Hota, the alleged owner of the factory; Deepa Ram and Rekha Ram, both suppliers from Rajasthan; and Mahesh Kumar, a labourer. All four were produced before a court on Monday.
