Cops seize expired health products of Rs 26.6 lakh and arrest two from Maharashtra

Kalyan: In a major crackdown on the sale of expired health supplements, the Kalyan crime unit of Thane police has busted a racket allegedly involved in changing expiry dates on vitamin and nutritional products before selling them in the market. Police arrested two persons and seized goods worth Rs 26.63 lakh during the operation.

According to police, the action was initiated after assistant police inspector Sarjerao Patil from Crime Branch Unit-3, Kalyan, received information that vitamin supplements manufactured by Mosaic Wellness Pvt Ltd were allegedly being sold with fake expiry date labels.

Acting on the tip-off, police conducted a raid on May 14 at Heena Mini Bazaar, located in Zubeda Plaza in the old fish market area of Kalyan West. During the raid, shop owner Abdulkarim Rais Khan was detained, and a large quantity of expired vitamin and nutritional products was recovered from the premises.

During interrogation, police found that Khan had allegedly procured the products from Birbal Ramdulahaar Yadav, a resident of Bhiwandi. Based on the information, a second raid was conducted at a warehouse in Bhiwandi, where police seized a large stock of similar products.

Investigators said the accused were allegedly removing the original expiry labels from expired products and replacing them with forged labels carrying extended validity dates before reintroducing them into the market.

Police said the accused were aware that the products could pose serious health risks to consumers, yet continued to distribute and sell them.

Among the products seized during the operation were Millet Choco Crunch cereals, multi millet pasta, Nutrimix supplements in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavours, Ashwagandha gummies, hair gummies, Vitamin C face serum, peanut butter, chocolate hazelnut spread, multivitamin gummies and gluten-free pasta, along with several other wellness and nutritional products.

In this connection, the Bazarpeth police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Further investigation in the case is being carried out by assistant police inspector Sarjerao Patil.