New Delhi, July 3 (AHN) In a major breakthrough, Delhi Police has busted a highly organised and systematic racket allegedly involved in manipulation of expiry dates and repackaging of expired international branded food products for sale and arrested seven accused, officials said on Friday.

Food items worth more than Rs. 20 lakh have been seized by investigators.

A police statement said that the operation was conducted by a team of Okhla Industrial Area Police Station, led by Inspector Anil Malik, under the supervision of ACP Anil Sharma, and under the overall guidance of DCP Dr Hemant Tiwari, who directed sustained, intelligence-driven action to dismantle the entire criminal network.

According to investigators, these expired food products were in the process of being sold in the open as well as through e-commerce platforms across India and the international market, posing a grave threat to public health, especially as several seized items included packed food, beverages, and consumables.

Acting upon specific secret information, a joint raid was conducted by a team of staff from PS Okhla Industrial Area along with the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Badarpur, NGO Mission Mukti, and FSSAI at M/s Westened Corporation Pvt. Ltd., located at X-57, Okhla Phase-II, New Delhi.

Police said that the initial objective of the operation was a child labour rescue mission based on specific inputs, but during the thorough search and inspection of the premises, no minors or child labourers were found.

However, a detailed inquiry and search of the premises revealed an organised racket involved in the sale of food products by altering their manufacturing and expiry dates.

The perpetrators used to purchase near-expired food products of international brands at very low prices and, after altering the expiry dates and nutritional value stickers, exported them as genuine products. Huge stocks of altered products were recovered from the premises, including Thums Up, Fanta, Bournvita, Horlicks, ghee, Maggi noodles, 2-litre cold drink packs and cold drink cans, and Paper Boat juices. It was also found that the aforesaid company is registered as Westened Corporation Pvt. Ltd., and its owner has been identified as Darshan Singh Sachdeva.

It has come to light that the perpetrators used chemical thinners to erase the original manufacturing and expiry dates from popular consumer products. Specialised printing machines were installed on the premises to counterfeit fresh manufacturing and expiry dates directly onto product wrappers and stickers.

Further investigation revealed that the company owner and other accused used to procure near-expiry international food products at extremely low prices. Most of the products had already expired or become unfit for human consumption. Instead of destroying them as mandated by law, the accused illegally "re-manufactured" the products by changing the manufacturing and expiry dates, altering labels and product information, affixing fake barcodes, batch numbers, and MRPs, and repacking the products in fresh-looking wrappers.

These tampered products were then supplied in bulk to markets and various e-commerce platforms across India, generating huge illegal profits while endangering public health.

The recovery of complete printing, sealing, and date-altering machinery confirms the existence of a full-fledged illegal adulteration and repackaging factory.

Accordingly, FIR No. 358/26 has been registered at PS Okhla Industrial Area under Sections 275, 318(4), 336, 340, and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The seven arrested persons include a septuagenarian, identified as Sachdeva. Other accused have been identified as Nitesh Bhardwaj, Narender Kumar, Kapil, Lucky Ojha, Prem Yadav, and Pawan Kumar Yadav.