Uppal police raid adulterated spice units, seize ₹1.5 crore stock
Hyderabad : Police raided units allegedly manufacturing and selling adulterated spices and chilli powder in the Uppal and Medipally police station limits and seized raw materials worth ₹1.50 crore.
Malkajgiri commissioner Sumathi disclosed the details at the Uppal DCP office on Thursday.
Unit allegedly ran without permits for three years
Police said a spice manufacturing unit had been operating without permits for three years at Laxmi Narayana Colony in Ramanthapur. The unit allegedly repackaged expired spices in new packets and sold them with fresh manufacturing dates.
The packets were allegedly designed to resemble those of popular brands and carried fake Indian Standards Institution (ISI) and Agmark marks.
Police found that chilli powder was adulterated by adding wood powder and chilli stalks, with the adulteration reaching up to 30%. Food colours were also allegedly added to spices, while pepper powder was prepared with a low proportion of pepper.
Police took the unit’s operator, Devneni Bhupesh, into custody.
Police seize chilli, coriander and turmeric powders
At a second unit in Medipally, police seized 3,350 kg of chilli powder, 5,140 kg of coriander powder, 300 kg of turmeric and garam masala.
Police took the unit’s operators, Satyanarayana and Rudra Shekhar, into custody.
Sumathi said the seized raw materials would be sent to a food-testing laboratory for examination.
