Berhampur: Acting on credible inputs from the Military Intelligence Unit at Gopalpur in Odisha, Berhampur police seized counterfeit Army combat uniform from a cloth shop named Ganjam Galaxy Store in Berhampur.
A criminal case has been registered in this connection at the Town Police station under Sections 420/486/63 Copyright Act and the matter is being investigated.
One Rambabu Dangi who works in Army AD College, Gopalpur, during his visit to Berhampur noticed that Ganjam Galaxy Store was selling counterfeit new digital combat uniforms of the Indian Army and informed the matter to the authorities.
During a joint raid by the Military Intelligence and Berhampur police, a total of 488 meters of Combat uniform material worth Rs 1,20,000 has been seized. During the investigation, it was found that the owner of Ganjam Galaxy Store had procured this uniform material from Kolkata, who in turn procured it from Ludhiana. Further investigation is going on to verify the place of manufacturing and the people behind it the illegal business.
The new digital pattern combat uniform was unveiled by the Army on January 15, 2022, as a replacement for the old uniform, which is in process.
The Army has obtained Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for the design and camouflage patterns for 10 years, extendable for another five years. This has been done to prevent unauthorised vendors from manufacturing and selling the combat uniform in the open market, as it was posing a serious security threat to the Indian Army.
As per orders, the new uniform has to be sold only in the Army’s unit-run canteens.
Due to the IPR, the Army now possesses exclusive rights to the design and can file a complaint against any unauthorised sale of this design.
