Edible oil racket busted, 1 arrested in joint drive

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force, South-East Team, along with the Food Safety Officials, raided a shop in Mahaboob Mansion, Malakpet, and apprehended a person for repacking and selling edible oils with expired labels and using whitener on labels to suppress the expiry date and batch numbers without a repacking license. The police seized expired products worth Rs 1.9 lakh.

The arrested person was identified as Ashok Kumar Agarwal (51), owner of Sri Ganesh Balaji Lakkadatar Oil. The police seized 161 bottles and 31 tins, 1,014 litres of oil.

According to the police, on Monday, the Task Force team, along with the Food Safety officials, raided Sri Ganesh Balaji Lakkadatar Oil in Sri Krupa Market. A thorough inquiry revealed that Agarwal was purchasing edible oils in bulk and repacking them without a repacking license. He concealed the expiry date and batch numbers on labels by using whiteners and supplying oil to needy customers and gaining profits illegally. The officials seized 1,014 litres of oil worth Rs 1.9 lakh. He, along with seized material, was handed over to FSO, GHMC, Circle-VI, Malakpet, for further action.