Adulterated cooking oil, expired wheat flour racket busted in Gachibowli; Rs 21 lakh goods seized

Hyderabad: In a major crackdown on food adulteration, the Madhapur Special Operations Team (SOT) unearthed an illegal unit manufacturing and repackaging adulterated edible oils and expired wheat flour in the Gachibowli police station limits.

Two people, a father and his son from Rajasthan, have been taken into custody.

Raid at Indiramma Colony

Acting on credible information, the Serilingampally SOT team raided a shop operating under the name Sri Jasnath Traders at Vattinagulapally Indiramma Colony in Gachibowli.

During the raid, police discovered that the accused had allegedly been collecting expired cooking oils of various brands and mixing them with soybean oil before repackaging and selling them under different brand names in the market.

The repackaged oils were being sold under labels such as Gold Face Light, Raj Gold Palm Oil, Gold Dry, Gold Fresh, Health Care, and Nandi Pure Pooja Oil, officials said.

Expired wheat flour repacked

In addition to edible oils, the accused were also found repackaging expired wheat flour sourced from multiple companies. The flour was being sold under the brand name Jasnath Gold Chakki Atta after relabelling.

Police said the products were being distributed in the local market, posing serious health risks to consumers.

Seizures worth over Rs 21 lakh

During the operation, police seized:

- 5,026 litres of adulterated cooking oil worth approximately Rs 10,55,460

- 5,192 kilograms of wheat flour valued at around Rs 3,11,520

- One weighing machine

- One oil filtering machine

- One wheat filtering machine

- Empty packaging bags

- Two mobile phones

- A tempo trolley auto

The total value of seized property is estimated at Rs 21,91,980.

Accused in custody

The accused have been identified as Bhanwar Ram Jat (46) and his son Ashok Kumar (22), both natives of Rajasthan. They have been taken into custody and handed over to the Gachibowli Police Station along with the seized material.

A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the extent of distribution and possible links in the supply chain.

Authorities reiterated their commitment to cracking down on food adulteration and urged the public to report suspicious activities related to food products.