CCB police nab kingpin couple manufacturing fake Nandini ghee
The City Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested a Mysuru-based couple, identified as Shivakumar and his wife Ramya, who are alleged to be the key masterminds behind the fake Nandini ghee manufacturing racket operating across Karnataka. The duo had reportedly set up a full-fledged counterfeit ghee production unit in neighbouring Tamil Nadu and were supplying fake products under the Nandini label to various parts of the state.
According to CCB DCP Sriharibabu, the accused had installed high-capacity, hi-tech machinery and advanced equipment at their illegal unit in Tamil Nadu to manufacture and repack spurious ghee in packets bearing the Nandini branding. The machines used in the operation have been seized by the police during raids on the unit.
This action follows the November 14 raid on a godown in Chamarajpet, Bengaluru, where CCB officials had first unearthed the racket and seized 8,136 litres of fake Nandini ghee. Those counterfeit stocks were being supplied to certain Nandini parlours and retail outlets.
At that stage, the police had arrested distributor Mahendra, his son Deepak, and an associate Muniraju, revealing a wider distribution network.
Subsequent investigation has now indicated that the fake ghee seized in Bengaluru was actually manufactured by Shivakumar and Ramya, and then pushed into the market through Mahendra and his network.
Taking the probe forward, CCB has frozen around Rs 60 lakh found in the arrested couple’s bank accounts. Samples of the seized ghee have also been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory to determine what substandard or harmful substances were mixed in the product.
Police sources said the couple already faced a similar case earlier in Mysuru for allegedly manufacturing counterfeit products.
Investigators are now probing whether more individuals or entities are linked to this racket and mapping out all regions where the fake Nandini ghee was supplied. The CCB is continuing intensive interrogation to dismantle the entire network and ensure such adulterated dairy products are removed from the market.
