Surat: The Special Operations Group (SOG) police have busted a duplicate ghee manufacturing unit in Sachin GIDC and seized 2,029 kg of adulterated ghee worth around Rs 15 lakh.Police said the unit had been operating for the past two years and was producing ghee of varying quality depending on client demand. The accused were supplying the product under the ‘Vidur’ brand across South Gujarat at around Rs 600 per kg, while it was sold in retail markets for nearly Rs 1,000 per kg.According to investigators, the accused produced nearly 1,000 kg of ghee every day and packaged it professionally before distributing it in the market. Police also recovered Rs 2 lakh in cash, suspected to be proceeds from the sale of the adulterated ghee.Deputy commissioner of police (SOG) Rajdeep Nakum said the raid was conducted following a tip-off received by police inspector Atul Sonara. Acting on the information, SOG teams raided Plot No. I-33 in Sachin GIDC and busted the duplicate ghee unit equipped with modern machinery.Two persons — Bharat Polra (49) and Amin Vadhwaniya (45) — were arrested for running the unit for the past two years. Police said the accused used a small quantity of pure ghee and mixed it with palm oil, vanaspati (hydrogenated vegetable oil) and flavouring essence to produce larger quantities of so-called cow ghee under the ‘Vidur’ brand. Investigators found that 1 kg of pure ghee was mixed with about 14 kg of other ingredients to produce nearly 15 kg of adulterated ghee.Officials said the accused also customised the quality according to orders. If buyers demanded inferior-quality ghee, they produced variants costing as low as Rs 300 per kg. The ghee was sold in bulk to kirana stores, dhabas, hotels located along highways and in industrial areas, as well as in markets across villages and towns in South Gujarat.Food safety officers were called to the site after the raid and confirmed that the unit was manufacturing adulterated ghee without the required permissions.Police also found that large quantities of the manufactured ghee were stored at a godown in Talangpor village in Sachin. SOG teams raided the warehouse as well and seized ready-to-sell stock.1,000kg manufactured dailyInvestigators estimate that the accused had been producing nearly 1,000 kg of ghee daily for the past two years. With the product sold between Rs 300 and Rs 600 per kg, police believe the racket may have generated sales worth several crores. Based on an average price of Rs 450 per kg, the total value of the ghee sold during this period could exceed Rs 30 crore.
