7 Arrested As Expired Food Racket Busted In Delhi, Products Worth Over Rs 20 Lakh Seized

Last Updated:July 03, 2026, 23:21 IST

Police recovered expired food and beverage products of international brands worth Rs 20 lakh that were repackaged with forged manufacturing and expiry dates before being sold.

Delhi Police has uncovered an alleged food tampering racket operating from an industrial unit in southeast Delhi’s Okhla and arrested seven people, including the company’s owner, police officials said on Friday.

During the operation, police recovered expired food and beverage products of international brands worth more than Rs 20 lakh that were allegedly repackaged with forged manufacturing and expiry dates before being sold in the market.

According to police, the accused bought expired or near-expiry products of well-known brands at heavily discounted prices. They allegedly removed the original manufacturing and expiry dates using chemicals, printed fresh dates on the packaging and supplied the products to retail outlets and e-commerce platforms across the country.

The arrested have been identified as company owner Darshan Singh Sachdeva (70), manager Nitesh Bhardwaj (38), accountant Narender Kumar (42), operator Kapil (34), warehouse keeper Lucky Ojha (45), and supervisors Prem Yadav (33) and Pawan Kumar Yadav (32).

“The racket was unearthed during a joint inspection of police, along with officials from the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Badarpur), the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and NGO Mission Mukti Foundation at a private company located in Okhla Phase-II," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said in a statement.

The inspection was launched after police received information about the alleged employment of child labourers at the unit. While no child labourers were found, officials instead uncovered what police described as a large-scale counterfeit food operation catering to domestic as well as international markets.

During the search, teams seized large quantities of allegedly tampered food and beverage products, including Thums Up, Fanta, Bournvita, Horlicks, Maggi noodles, ghee, Paper Boat juices, two-litre soft drink bottles, beverage cans and other packaged food items.

Police also recovered printing and sealing machines, date-modification equipment, chemicals allegedly used to erase original markings, fake nutrition labels, counterfeit barcodes, batch labels and MRP stickers.

“During interrogation, the accused admitted that they sourced expired or near-expiry products at heavily discounted prices and fraudulently extended their shelf life to maximise profits," the officer said.

According to police, the repackaged products were allegedly supplied in bulk to markets, retail outlets, shopping malls and online platforms across India, potentially exposing consumers to expired food items.

Police said further investigation is underway to determine the full extent of the network and identify others who may have been involved.

With inputs from PTI

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