Saturday, May 21, 2022 | Last Update : 02:29 AM IST

BENGALURU: Beware! Before you sip your favourite tea early in the morning and at other times, the city police have busted a powerful racket involved in manufacturing duplicate tea powder of a top brand.

The Bandepalya police have unearthed a racket involved in manufacturing and labelling duplicate tea powder of Brooke Bond’s 3 Roses brand. The arrested have been identified as Bhavar Lal (26) and Jagaram Lal (40), both from Rajasthan.

The main accused Ramesh Lal, had managed to escape to Rajasthan. The team will be sent to hunt him down.

The police team under the leadership of DCP South East Isha Pant, police inspector Yogesh had raided the place located in closed premises and unearthed the scam which ran for two years without the knowledge of anyone.

The police have seized packing machine, labels and other materials worth Rs 30 lakh. The seized tea powder is being segregated into three samples. They will be sent to the company and government laboratories to ascertain the quality of the tea powder.

It will also be ascertained whether there is any presence of harmful or cancerous elements in the tea powder.

The sources explain that, the accused represented a powerful lobby with presence all over the country.

If the original tea powder is priced at Rs 140 for 500 gram, the seized duplicate tea powder used could be available for Rs 40 for the same quantity. The tests will confirm the quality and hazardous aspects present in the duplicate tea powder.

There is immense pressure on Bandepalya police ever since it made arrests of the accused. The lobby had even filed a habeas corpus in the High Court and complained to the Human Rights organisation. The team conducted a search in the premises of the police station.

The police have informed the court about the background of the case. They are seeking police custody for the accused after presenting them before the court.

 Police say the accused need to be investigated further following the involvement of big names behind those accused. Will the police bust the nationwide racket remains the moot point.

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