More than 22,000 litres of suspected adulterated ghee worth about Rs 1.60 crore were seized and three people arrested during raids on two firms in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district ahead of Diwali, police said.

Source: News89 (India Today report)

The raids were conducted jointly by the CID Crime Branch, local police and food safety officials as part of a statewide campaign against food adulteration. Investigators suspect that expired and returned ghee was being repackaged with fresh labels and sold in the market. The teams seized 22,138 litres of ghee in total and Rs 3.50 lakh in cash allegedly earned from its sale.

Those arrested were identified as Ram Tayal, 26, Mukesh Kumar, 24, and Vikas Kumar, 42. All three are accused, not convicted, and the case against them is yet to be tested.

What was found at the two firms

At Ananya Trading Company's warehouse and factory, officials found 16,394 litres of suspected adulterated ghee packed under several brand names, including Trisalwa, Bansuri, Shrinand and Mayra, police said. Food safety officials collected samples for testing, after which the warehouse was sealed.

At New Vijay Trading Company on Suratgarh Bypass, the joint team seized another 5,744 litres of suspected adulterated ghee. Food safety authorities also recovered expired ghee, containers without labels, packaging material, stickers, a packing machine and other equipment.

Source: The Hona News (Hindustan Times report)

Officials have not yet released the laboratory results for the samples collected. Whether the seized stock was adulterated, and the role of each arrested person, will be established through testing and the legal process.