Hyderabad: Four arrested for selling fake Apple mobile accessories valued at Rs 1.01 crore

Hyderabad: In a major crackdown on counterfeit electronics, the Commissioner’s Task Force (Central Zone), along with Abids Police, arrested four individuals for illegally selling fake Apple mobile accessories in Hyderabad.

The seized goods, bearing counterfeit Apple logos and branding which include counterfeit EarPods (156), fake Apple power banks (16), Apple logo stickers (430), adapters and adapter covers with logos (295), USB charging cables (61), mobile batteries (45), iPhone back glass panels (95) and silicon mobile back cover (1,430) which are valued at over Rs 1.01 crore were recovered from the possession of the accused.

Multiple mobile accessory shops targeted

The raid was carried out based on credible intelligence, targeting multiple mobile accessory shops in Jagdish Market under the jurisdiction of Abids Police Station. The accused were identified as Vikram Singh (30), Suresh Kumar Rajpurohit (25), Natharam Choudary (25) and Mohammad Sarfaraz (24) — all proprietors of separate mobile accessory stores in the city.

According to officials, the accused were procuring duplicate Apple-branded products from suppliers in Mumbai and repackaging them with fake Apple logos to deceive customers into believing they were buying genuine items. This constitutes a clear violation of the Copyright Act.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were running a well-organised operation aimed at making quick profits by selling counterfeit products under the guise of genuine Apple merchandise.

The accused, along with the seized materials, have been handed over to the Station House Officer, Abids Police Station, for further investigation and legal proceedings.